Finding My Adventure
by catharsis25
Summary: Kairi turns up in my room and my whole life changes. My world ends, I meet a friendly heartless and a Green Arrow wannabe, and I finally feel what it's like to find your own adventure.
1. Chapter 1: A Rude Awakening

Finding My Adventure

Chapter 1: A Rude Awakening

'Twas a dark and stormy night...Wait a sec, wrong story. Once upon a time... No, that's not right either. Hmm, lets try this.

Ahem.

It started on a Friday. Well, more like Thursday night. I had fallen asleep in my bed with the television on, so you might understand why I wasn't alarmed when there was an odd whooshing noise followed by a thump. No, what woke me was the girls cursing as she righted herself on the bed. And no, not in that way. I rolled over to see what was going on just as she realized she wasn't alone in the room. Well, needless to say I was more than a little shocked to see a strange girl in my room, so I did the only thing I could think of. I screamed like a little girl and tried to scramble away from her as quick as possible. It was only after I reached the lamp on my desk and turned it on that I realized that I wasn't exactly dressed. So sue me, that's how I sleep. Anyway, I immediately blushed then raced to clothe myself. As I was doing this, I determined I would find out exactly what the gosh-darn heck was going on. "What the HELL ARE YOU DOING IN MY ROOM?! Who are you?! What's going..." I broke off as I got a better look at her. At her red hair. Her pink, zip up vinyl dress with white undershirt. Her indigo eyes. "Holy F----ing S—t! Kairi is in my bedroom!"

Before we continue, I should probably tell you a little about myself. I am around 5 and a half feet tall. I have brown, extremely curly hair, and brown eyes. I am a senior in high school, and I love Kingdom Hearts. I even have a stuffed shadow heartless! I even read tons of fanfic(yes, I'm talking about you, DanceKristiDance, Igor Lollipop, Krystal Lily Potter, Rayna Lissesul, Lesser, Star Tours Traveler, Darius Almighty, etc). So you can only image how I felt seeing THE Kairi sitting, bold as brass, right there on my bed. Talk about unreal. "Holy crap. I cannot believe this. It's you, it's really you! Is it? Are you really here?" I was rambling. Why couldn't I stop rambling?! She looked at me with this weird look on her face. Sort of a combination between 'Who the hell is this kid' and 'What the hell is he saying?' Thankfully, she chose that time to speak, "Woah, woah, woah. Slow down. Who are you and how do you know my name?"

"Oh, heh, right. My name's Charles, but my friends call me Chuck. I already know who you are."

"Yeah, about that. How do you know who I am?"

I fidgeted as she asked this. How do you explain to someone that they don't exist? Or does she? Hmm. Damn existential conundrum! Where was I? Oh, yes! How to explain. "Well, Kairi, you kind of, um, don't exist." At this, she raised her eyebrow and waived a hand at herself, as if saying 'Really, I don't exist? Then who are you talking to?' It was a valid point. "Okay, maybe that isn't the best way to say it. Well, you, Sora – and yes, I know about Sora too – as well as Riku and King Mickey, you are all characters in a video game in this world. You're fictional. Or, at least, I thought you were." She gave me that funny look again, then said, "So let me get this straight. I'm a character in a video game?"

"Yep."

"And so are Sora and Riku?"

"Uh huh."

She thought for a moment. "Do you happen to own said video game?"

I was flabbergasted. "Well, uh, yeah. How else would I know about you? Actually, wait here. Don't move." I waived at her to sit on the bed, "I'll be right back." She sat down as I bolted out of the room, running downstairs to get my PS2. I brought it back upstairs into my room and hooked it up. "Okay, here it is." I showed her the boxes for Kingdom Hearts I and II, as well as the strategy guide for KHI. "This is so weird," she mumbled, as she looked them over. I took KHI from her and loaded it up. I gave her the general gist of the game, showing her some of the characters, and asking her if she recognized them. Upon seeing her younger self, she almost shouted. "Oh my god! That's me as a little girl!"

"Kairi, try to keep it down, please?" I tip-toed to the door to check to see if anyone woke up. "Good, I don't think they heard. Kairi, my parents would likely make some awkward assumptions if they found a strange girl in my room in the middle of the night. While we're on the subject, how did you get into my house?" I looked at her questioningly. As far as I knew, you didn't fall when you beamed down from the gummi ship. She shrugged, "Well, I actually have no idea. One minute I'm with Sora and Riku on the gummi ship, the next I'm falling onto your bed. As to what happened, your guess is as good as mine." Suddenly, I felt very, very tired. Before I passed out, there was something I just had to know. "Umm, Kairi?"

"Yes"

"Can you do magic? I mean, around here, there is not such thing as magic except in fantasy books and the movies. So, could you show me some? Something simple. And definitely not an offensive magic like fire. I don't want my house going up in smoke. That would be awkward explaining." I smirked. "Sorry mom and dad, but this girl from a video game was showing me how to conjure fire balls!"

She giggled. "Yeah, that would be tough to swallow." Kairi thought for a moment, then seemed to make up her mind about something. "Okay, sure. How about reflect?"

"Okay," I said with a shrug.

Kairi held out her hand, and in a flash, summoned a keyblade. Man, I was seriously geeking out.

"Cool, Oathkeeper! So you can wield a keyblade too? I know that at the end of Kingdom Hearts II, Riku gave you one, but I didn't know if that was temporary or not. Oh, right, you didn't play the games." I scratched my head. "Did Sora tell you about his adventures?"

"Yeah. I wish I had been there. After being the damsel in distress twice, though, I swore that I would be the one doing the rescuing from now on." I nodded in agreement, then went on, "So, in the games, there was this part where Riku, looking like Xehanort's heartless, gives you a keyblade to fight with. This is when you guys are in The World That Never Was. Did that happen, or was it just in the games?"

"No, I remember that. Shortly after that Sora and I were reunited. Well, anyway, I'm going to cast reflect. Here I go." Kairi raised Oathkeeper above her head, then brought it down into a guard position, just as she called out, "Reflect!" Just as the keyblade stopped moving, a brilliant shield of what looked like glass materialized out of thin air around her. I knocked on it a couple of times, surprised at how much my hand bounced back. Kairi stepped out of the stance, and the barrier dropped. It was so extremely cool, and I said so, "That was so cool! It was just like in the game!" She scuffed her shoe against the floor, "It was nothing, really. Sora's is much better."

"He's had more practice. Oh, speaking of Sora and 'just like the game', when you and Sora were reunited, and he found out about Riku. If you don't mind me asking, did you kiss? 'Cause in the game it seemed like he just blew right by you and focused on Riku. I mean, he spent something like two years trying to find you, the girl he loves, and he just blows by you?"

Kairi flushed a deep red. You practically couldn't tell the difference between her hair and her cheeks. It was rather endearing. "Um, I don't know about love -" I cut her off.

"Look, Kairi, if a guy is willing to fly from one end of the galaxy to the other just to find you, and then stab himself in the chest to save you, it is a pretty safe bet that he loves you. Anyway, continue." I wave her on.

"Well, if you say so. To answer your question, yes, he did kiss me. And I get what your saying, but if he loved me and never dated anyone else, then what I want to know is how he learned to kiss like that."

I smiled at her, yawning as I said, "You two are very lucky. Well, I should go to bed. After all, if in the morning it turns out that you don't exist, I still have school to go to. I'll set you up in the guest room. If there's anything you need, just let me know."

"Thank you."

"No problem. Anything for a princess of heart," I reply with a wink. I lead her across the hall to the guest room, pointing out the bathroom on the way. "If you need to shower in the morning, it's right in there. Also, there should be a new toothbrush in the drawer if you need it." I made sure there were pillows on the bed, and started to leave the room when I thought of something. "Um, Kairi?"

"Yes?"

"If it's not too much trouble, if you get up before 7:30, could you just hang out in here and keep quiet? I have to get my sister to school, and my mom might not be gone before then, and I wouldn't want them to start asking questions I can't answer. I'll make a short appearance at school and then be right back. Missing one day of school won't kill me."

"Okay. I get it. Goodnight, Chuck."

"Goodnight Kairi," I said as I left the room. I walked across the hall, got in bed, and turned out the light. It was going to be a long weekend.


	2. Chapter 2: Heartless!

Finding My Adventure

So, here is the Author's Note that I was meaning to put at the beginning of the first chapter, but forgot.

Hi! I'm catharsis25. This is my first ever fanfic. Ever. I decided to try to write this as the idea just wouldn't leave me alone. Even over the course of days. So that's why I'm writing.

Disclaimer: I don't own any KH stuff(well, I do, but not the rights to it), Square Enix stuff(same here) or any other rights that don't belong to me.

Warning: Seeing as how I don't own the KH rights, and therefore down own the characters, I don't know any of the characters as well as I would like. So all the characters I use are BASED on the games, and my interpretation of their personalities.

After this, my intro's will be shorter, and less formal, so don't worry about that.

Also, this is NOT a mexKairi story. Sora would kick my ass.

Without further ado, here is the second chapter!

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Chapter 2: Heartless!?

_BeepBeepBeep...BeepBeepBeep...BeepBee -WHACK!!!_

"Ungh. Alarm clocks suck." This is my traditional morning ritual.

"Mumblegrumblemumble," I hate getting out of my bed, but I do it anyway. Why? Because getting _into_ the shower feels good. I grabbed my stuff and headed to the bathroom to enjoy a couple minutes of heated shower-y goodness before school. Just then, something tugged at my brain.

"There was something I was looking forward to. Hmm. What was it?"

I shrugged it off and went to open the bathroom door. _Click_. It was locked. Now that I was a little more awake, I realized the shower was already running.

"Grrr. Stupid sister," I grumbled to myself, shortly before banging on the door and shouting, "LU! Get the HELL out of the shower! I need to get in there!"

I was caught somewhat by surprise when a naggingly familiar voice shouted back, "Who's Lu!? I'll be out in a minute!"

All at once, the memory of last night returned in full. Kairi falling out of thin air onto my bed. Her magic demonstration. All of it came rushing back, almost knocking me off my feet.

"You okay?" She shouted over the running water.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I replied, shaking my head, "Lu is my sister, by the way. Uh, just knock on my door when your done, OK?"

"Alright!" came the cheery reply. It was going to take a lot of getting used to, hearing that voice coming from somewhere not on a screen. I walked into my room and picked up my stuffed heartless. Looking at it, turning it over in my hands as I began to consider, for the first time, the possible ramifications of Kairi being real. Staring into the stuffed creature's yellow eyes, I had to ask,

"Could these guys exist too?"

I didn't know. Just then, I heard the water shut off, and my thoughts turned back to Kairi's sudden appearance. If she ended up on my world, did Sora and Riku wind up here as well? That was another question I couldn't answer. _Knock Knock._

"I'm done now, Chuck. The shower's all yours."

"Thanks Kairi." I went and took my turn in the shower. By time I was showered and dressed, it was already time for me to head to school. What was odd, was that even though Kairi and I had been shouting, I had seen neither hide nor hair of my younger sister Lu (short for Louise), or my mom. What was going on? Where was everybody? I wandered downstairs, and began to make myself some breakfast. After all, I was only going to take my sister to school so my family wouldn't notice anything, so why go to school at all if they weren't here? As I was pouring myself a bowl of cereal, Kairi came downstairs.

"There's cereal in the cabinet, if your hungry," I said, indicating the cabinet. "Nobody seems to be home, so at least we don't have to sneak around or anything." As I said this, I saw her suddenly focus all her attention on me.

"I thought you said that they would be around," Kairi asked as she grabbed the cereal from the cabinet.

"I thought they were going to be, but I guess they must have left early for some reason, and I was too tired to remember them telling me." I shrugged and returned to my cereal. We ate in silence for a while after that. Finally, I broke the silence by asking, "Kairi, what are the heartless like?"

"What?"

"What are the heartless like. What is it like to fight them? I mean, if your real and Sora's real, then the heartless must be real too. And if you're here then..." I trailed off, not really wanting to finish that thought. She put down her spoon and considered for a moment. Then, she looked me straight in the eyes with one of the most serious expressions I have ever seen on a human face.

"What are you afraid of?"

"Huh?"

"I asked what you are afraid of. Imagine being surrounded by your worst fears. All the doubt and insecurities you ever felt. Mix in a little bit of vertigo when you look into their eyes, like leaning over the edge of a very deep hole. Then, multiply that by a thousand. That is what they are like." With that chilling image, she returned to her cereal. The rest of the meal was spent in silence.

After eating we were a little at a loss as for what to do. I didn't really know what to talk to her about, and after that speech, frankly I was a little unsettled. I began to get a little worried about my mom and sister. "Hey, Kairi, I'm gonna call my mom and sister, see what's up, kay? Feel free to surf the net, watch tv, whatever. Make yourself at home." I walked outside and pulled out my cell. I dialed my mom's number and hit send. Nothing. There wasn't even a voice saying the number was out of service or anything. Just silence. That was when I started to get the feeling that something was very wrong.

"Kairi!" I screamed, as I tore back inside.

"I know, I figured it out too," she said calmly. I looked around frantically, panicked, checking the room for shadows that shouldn't be there.

"Kairi, is it true that the only thing that can hurt the heartless is the keyblade?" I asked.

"No. It's not the blade, but the heart. Having a magically imbued sword helps, but as long as the person has a strong enough heart, almost anything will work." She said. I think she saw where I was going with this. "But I should probably teach you some magic just in case your heart isn't tough enough."

"Hey! My heart is plenty strong!"

Kairi just looked at me with her eyebrow raised. I deflated a little. Too much pride never did anyone any good.

"Okay. So anyone can learn magic?" I asked, curiosity overwhelming my sense of urgency. For now.

"Yeah. So long as they have a good teacher. Luckily for you, I learned from the best!"

"Cool. So what spell am I going to learn? Fire? That's what you start with in the games." I was hoping it would be. I've always been a little bit of a pyro.

"Hmm. Well, it would make sense. Fire is a good, general purpose, long range spell. I think it'd be the best to start with."

With that, I started to learn my first spell. Kairi had me go and get whatever weapon I felt most comfortable with. I have a small sword collection that I practice with pretty frequently, so I picked out the one I liked best. It was a medieval style longsword. Actually, it was the Sword of Omens from Thundercats. So sue me, I'm a geek. I had it slung across my back so I could draw it over my right shoulder. I tested the draw a few times before I nodded to Kairi that I was ready.

We went outside, in the interest of not burning down my house. She had me stand in front of her in my fighting stance. I stood with my feet shoulder width apart, both hands on the hilt, sword held in front of me. I swung it around a few times to get a feel for it, then settle back into my stance. "Sooo, what now?" I asked.

"Now, you concentrate. It sounds kinda lame, but you feel the fire burn inside of you. Think of all the hot things you can. Feel all the hot emotions ripple through you, like anger and passion. Then, push them out through the tip of the sword. Easy as pie!" At that, she shot a huge fireball right over my head and through the fence, melting the wire and burning the wooden slats.

"Woah." I was kinda startled, but I concentrated. I started to build my emotions. Anger, pain, passion, just like Kairi said. Slowly, I felt as if something was building up inside of me. I aimed with the tip of my sword. Then, with all of my will, I tried to force that something inside me out through my sword. I cried out "FIRE!"

Nothing. Not a wisp of smoke.

"Haha! Oh well. Maybe you need a little help the first time." Kairi said. She came over to me and put her hand on my shoulder. It felt warm. Actually, it felt as if it was on fire. I turned to look and nearly singed off my eyebrows! Her hand was engulfed by bright pink flames. It felt as if, instead of burning my skin, they burnt my soul, my essence. I tried to concentrate through it.

Kairi leaned over to whisper in my ear, "Use it. Let it burn you. Then, reach out and let it burn something else."

It took me a second to get it, but then it clicked. Once more I raised my sword, concentrated, and yelled "FIRE!" This time, it worked. A ball of fire burst from the point of my sword. It was a little weak compared to Kairi's, but I was new at this.

"WooHoo! I did it! Yes!" I jumped around excitedly, and Kairi and I high fived. That was when I heard it. The worst sound I had ever heard. It was a scream, but nothing a human throat could have produced. It was shrill and deep at the same time, and it rocked me to my core. Without ever hearing it before, I knew what it was, because nothing of the light could ever make such a noise. It was the heartless, and they were coming.

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So that was fun, wasn't it? Next chapter, the heartless show up. Sorry it's so slow so far, but stick with it, it picks up.

Reviews Section

here is the section where I either reply to or mention all the people that reviewed my story. So here goes

Chilltown – Thanks for reviewing. I really appreciated your input on the first chapter. Means a lot.

Star Tours Traveler – I am really enjoying Reunion III, btw. I already replied to your reviews, but I think more people review when they see their name in the story. Kinda.

Krystal Lily Potter – Thank you for the really helpful tips. I'll try to keep them in mind. Especially the being original thing. There is one idea that I think few male fans of KH would ever have their main characters do, but I kinda want that to be a bit of a surprise. Just heads up. Nothing is as it seems.

Rayna Lissesul – Not much to say but thanks. Also, I totally did not see that pairing coming. The one in Days of our Afterlife. Wow.

Okay! That's all for now folks. This is Catharsis25, telling you that when Cthulhu finally rises from his slumber, me, you, and anyone else remotely creative will be the first to go insane ;-) Ta Ta!


	3. Chapter 3: Allies and Enemies

Finding My Adventure

C25: Well, here we go again. {Looks over chapter} My, there is quite a lot going on in here. But, before we begin, I will ask you all to review after you read. I know, I know, it's so hard to click that little button down there, but I really do need the feedback so the story wont suck. Also, it helps boost my ego so that I can get more chapters out faster. K? If the formatting is a little different from the previous chapter, forgive me. I'm playing around with it to see what works.

Kairi: Catharsis25 doesn't own me, or Sora, or anyone else. We're people! Nobody can own us! He also doesn't own anything anyone else does.

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Chapter 3: The Enemy of My Enemy...

The heartless were coming. Wow. Just listen to that. I sound like Paul Revere. The Heartless are coming, the Heartless are coming! Hehe. Sadly, the situation wasn't that funny. In fact it was downright serious. Deadly serious. As in, I might soon be dead. That kind of deadly serious. As soon as Kairi heard the Heartless' scream, she took off in the direction it came from. I ran after her, just barely keeping up. Damn, this girl was fast! I had to yell after her to get her to slow down for me,

"Kairi! Wait up!" I doubled over, trying to catch my breath, as we both came to a stop.

"What is it? Didn't you hear? The heartless are here and are probably attacking people as we speak! We have to move!" She was frantic. As she spoke she waved her arms around and gestured wildly.

"Calm down Kairi. If we want to get there fast, we should take my motorcycle." Oh, yeah. I guess I forgot to mention that. For my seventeenth birthday I got a motorcycle. I even got to pay the insurance bills for it too! Actually, it's the one thing that makes me cool. Well, that and the really comfy black, oiled canvas duster that I was wearing. Y'know, the kind that kinda streams out behind you when you walk, and makes you look like a real badass. Yeah. That duster.

"Hop on!" I yelled, as I scooped up my helmet from the handle bars and tossed the spare to Kairi. I jammed the helmet on to my head, swung my leg over the bike, and only then realized I didn't have my keys with me.

"Oh, crap! I left my keys inside! I'm going back in for them!" I was about to get off the bike when Kairi blocked my way with Oathkeeper. There was a click, then the bike turned on.

"Keyblade, remember?" Kairi said with a grin, "Now let's go!" I nodded acknowledgment.

"Okay, hold on tight!" I yelled as I gunned the engine. Now, when I got the bike, I never thought I would be using it like this, but I also thought it was important to have a really good one in case of zombie invasion. Well, let me tell you, when I opened up the throttle on that thing, there was a roar rivaling the heartless battle cry. It was like a lion, screaming out in challenge to all that dared to face it. It was so freaking cool! As the bike accelerated, I had to lean forward to keep it from pulling a wheel-y and throwing us off. We screamed down the street, heading for where the heartless scream had come from. It seemed to me to have come from the other side of town. Once on the road, the noise from the engine quieted down enough to allow for some amount of conversation. I was getting really edgy from the anticipation, so I asked Kairi,

"So, do we have a plan?" I had to shout over the roar of the wind and the scream of the engine.

"What?"

"I said, do we have a plan?" I screamed back.

"No." she replied

"Do we need one?"

"Not really!" Kairi yelled. I could tell she wasn't really in the talking mood. I think she was excited for the upcoming battle. I sure as hell wasn't. I wanted to be anywhere but here. But here was where I was, so I might as well make the best of it.

After that, there really wasn't much to talk about, so it left me a long time for contemplation. You never really realize just how much you forget until your about to face down death. Then, it all comes bubbling to the surface. All the insignificant little things, the unimportant events that you forget as soon as they're over. I was watching a replay of some of the things I wish I hadn't remembered when I noticed a dark cloud on the horizon. It wasn't just dark though, it was purple. Oh no.

"So, Kairi, I'm guessing that's where we need to go?" I screamed over the engine.

"Ya think!"

Okay. Point taken. As we neared the ominous clouds, which were eerily similar to the ones that show up above Destiny Islands when they are destroyed in KHI, I noticed little dark blobs along the side of the road. Heartless. They all appeared to be heading in the same direction. "Hey, Kairi!"

"What?"

"Think you can hit those heartless?" I asked. Maybe we could take out the heartless without having to stop moving. Moving targets are harder to kill slowly and painfully, after all.

"I'll try" She replied. Kairi removed one of her arms from around my waist, and summoned Oathkeeper. She rapidly let off several Fire's, taking out a few heartless. I would have helped, but I was driving. Kinda important. I saw some soldier heartless milling about in the road, so I tried to run them over. Maybe not my best idea ever. As the bike neared the heartless, I saw the closest one turn and slash the front wheel. Uh oh. At least we were wearing our helmets. This was gonna suck.

_CRUNCH!_

The ground was doing pinwheels around my head. I couldn't tell which way was up, and which way was down. Not until I found down with my helmet. Listen up readers, that helmet saved my life. True story. So do what your parents say and wear them! The first thing I did once I regained my bearings was to take off my helmet and look around for Kairi. I saw her about ten yards off surrounded by heartless. Acrobatic thing that she was, she probably was able to jump off the bike in time to avoid injury, unlike yours truly. I saw that a little further off was the high school. I stood up and unsheathed my sword, "Thundercats, ho," I said wryly. Lifting up my sword, I concentrated, aimed at a heartless behind Kairi that was about to attack, and shouted, "FIRE!" A blossom of fire burst from my sword and sailed toward the heartless. Just as it was about to hit, the heartless leaped. Immediately, without thinking, I took aim again and again shouted, "FIRE!" This time I found my mark. The heartless didn't vanish in a puff of smoke, however. It just kind of lay there. Burning. And screaming. Oh yes. The little, helpless looking creature screamed as it's life was burnt away. I felt like throwing up. This was nothing like the games. I ran towards Kairi. I made it about halfway when a shadow heartless burst up from the ground right in front of me and leaped into the air to attack. I instinctively through up my sword, catching it's claws before they hit my face. Instead of leaping back like in the games, it held on tight to the sword. It started crawling it's way down the sword to my arm.

"Ahh! Get it off me, get it off me!" I screamed, waving my sword about. The heartless flew off and slammed into another, knocking both of them out. "Well, so much for them." I huffed. Then promptly emptied the contents of my stomach onto the sidewalk. Nearby, I heard Kairi struggling with the heartless. When I looked up, she was surrounded by at least five soldiers, ten shadows, and there was also a large body type heartless bearing down on her. Luckily for me, it was facing away from me. I gathered my feet under me and charged toward the back of the large body. As I ran, I watched as Kairi parried blow after blow from the soldiers. She often cast spells like thunder and aero in order to buy some breathing time. The large body was almost on top of her when I caught up to it. With a wild scream I leaped at it, sword held point down, "AAAAAAHHHHHH!" I was thrown a little off balance by how high I managed to jump, which would have to be investigated later, but managed to correct it before I landed on the large body's back. My sword sunk into it halfway up the blade. It made a sickening sound, and thick black blood oozed from the wound. I just barely managed to keep from throwing up. Just then, my feet lost purchase on it's back, and I slid down, the sword carving a long, gaping hole along the heartless' back. I scrambled backwards as it tumbled to the ground, crushing half a dozen other heartless beneath it. I saw Kairi, panting and sweaty, but okay, and I walked over to her.

"Thanks." She said. She sounded a little tired.

"No problem" I said, "I just wish I could have taken out more than I did. I had no idea how gruesome it was. I kinda feel bad for them. The games made it seem so innocent. I mean, you cut them, and poof, their gone." I almost broke down then. I think I would have, if it wasn't for the scream. Kairi and I looked at each other.

"It came from inside the school!" I cried over my shoulder as I dashed towards the entrance. Kairi was hot on my heels, and soon we burst through the doors, only to come upon a horrifying scene. There were dozens of them. A whole crowd of heartless were surrounding something. I couldn't quite see what they were harassing, but I could only guess that was where the scream came from. I knew I couldn't fight my way through all of the heartless with just a sword. But maybe...maybe if that sword was imbued with magic...

"Kairi! Can you store magic in a weapon or does it have to be forged with the magic in it?"

"What? Why?"

"Come on! Can you store magic in a sword?!"

"Yes, why!?" but I had stopped listening after yes. I immediately began to concentrate, just as if I was going to cast fire. The difference was this time, instead of pushing it out of the sword, I left in it. Soon, my sword was wreathed in flames, and was giving off a tremendous amount of heat.

"Let's roast some heartless." And with that, I rushed the outermost heartless of the mob. I hacked left and right, being careful not to touch myself with the super heated blade. I couldn't believe it actually worked. With the sword filled with fire magic, it seemed lighter in my hand, and cut through heartless like a lightsaber. I felt stronger, almost invulnerable. I could feel tugs at my legs, arms and back, but what did I care? I was invincible! I made it about halfway through the crowd, but it was enough to show me what was going on. In the middle of the ring was a girl. She had to be 16, 17 at the oldest. She looked battered and bruised, and sported more than a few cuts. But what made me stop was the little shadow heartless, ruthlessly defending the poor girl, even at the cost of his own life. Stopping to stare, however, was not the best plan I had ever had. I lost my momentum, and quickly realized how bad off I was. I had numerous cuts all over my back, arms, and legs, and I had lost a lot of blood. My legs gave out just as Kairi came up beside me. She caught me by my arms and somehow managed to drag me to the center of the ring. Just as she did, the earth began to shake. Kairi saw the heartless near the girl, and immediately went to kill it. The girl threw herself in front of it. Kairi stopped Oathkeeper an inch from the girl's nose. She glared at the girl and growled,

"Get out of the way. That thing may look cute, but it's pure evil." the girl drew herself up to her full height, which was not much, seeing as she only came up to my chin, and said with all the force she could muster,

"No, you back off. And my name's Carrie. This little guy saved my life, and he's under my protection." I weakly raised myself up onto my knees and said,

"It's true, Kairi, I saw it." Kairi was about to put away her keyblade, when the earth shook again. Bits of the roof began to fly away. The smaller heartless began to get sucked up by a giant black hole in the sky. The world was being swallowed by the darkness. We had failed.

"We have to get out of here." Kairi said. The little shadow came out from around Carrie, and, before Kairi could object, touched the point of Oathkeeper with the tip of one of it's black claws. As soon as it made contact, a black portal swirled up out of thin air, just like the Organization XIII made in the game. The shadow then seemed to wait. It looked at us, then looked at us, then looked back at the portal. I gulped.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think the heartless wants us to follow it." I said.

"His name's Bartleby."

"What?" Kairi and I intoned together.

"I said, his name is Bartleby." Carrie said, matter-of-factly. At that point, I just decided to stop questioning, and let fate decide what the hell it was going to do with me. After all, how much weirder can it get than meeting a good heartless whose name is Bartleby? So I threw myself into the portal. I mean, what else could I do? I tumbled through the void for what seemed like decades. Then, it was over. I tumbled out of the portal onto cold hard pavement. There was sound all around me. Raucous honking and sirens. It sounded like a city. I stood up just as Carrie popped out of the portal behind me. Well, more like on top of me. I landed on the ground. Again. Then right behind her was Kairi, then Bartlett. Kairi, without getting up, asked, "So, where are we?"

I grumbled, "I could tell you if you would kindly get off of me."

They all climbed off, and we stood together and I got my first sight of another world. We had landed near a highway on the edge of a rather large, rather brightly lit city. The sky was a dark maroon, precisely the color of a beautiful sunset. There were skyscrapers so high that you couldn't see the top. There was even a complex road system between the middle and upper levels of the buildings. Just then, something zoomed over our heads and we looked up quickly to see a flying car! Looking carefully, off in the city, you could just make out tons of cars zooming around in mid air! Near us there was a sign, it said, "Welcome to Sunset City."

"Well," I said, "Let's go see what's up in Sunset City!" And with that, I lead our little group off into the sunset. I wonder what adventures lie in wait for an average, ordinary geek, a video game character, a kindly heartless, and, well, I don't really know what Carrie is yet, but together, we made our way into the city.

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Author's Note

So that's chapter three! What did you guys think? Let me know, please! I might have chapter four up by Monday, I might not. Depends on how long it takes me to think up what is going to happen in Sunset City. BTW, Sunset City is kinda like my version of Twilight town.

Reviewer's Corner – Not many reviewers this time around. Oh well.

**Chilltown**** – **Thanks. I think. The main character is sorta modeled after me, so obviously he has character flaws. Not as many as I do, but almost. What do you mean by "you explain things in your own way in the Kingdom Hearts universe"? Not that I don't like being complimented, but I don't really understand what you mean by that.

Country Shout Out – Here is where I will give a shout out to all the countries that people who have read my story have come from, and sometimes how many from each.

United States – most people that read are from here.

Germany – Second most readers

Canada – tied with Germany

Sweden

Australia

Philippines

Well that's all for today! This is Catharsis25 saying, you better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, or Santa's gonna kick your ass! See you later kids!


	4. Chapter 4: Flying Cars and Hot Chocolate

Finding My Adventure

C25: I'm writing this note after finishing the chapter. I can't help but think to myself, "How the hell did the chapter get so friggin long?" Not just that, but I didn't even include everything I wanted to in it! So, I'm going to need some feedback on this, is this chapter too long? Too short? Let me know!

Disclaimer:I don't own KH or anything Square Enix or Disney. The idea behind Bartleby came from Ayame Alphana's fic called Twilight Academy: Auria Teslow, and the name came from the comic series Bone, by Jeff Smith. Check them both out, cause they're really cool.

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Chapter 4: Flying Cars and Hot Chocolate

Sunset City. What can I say? I think, "Wow, this is awesome," pretty much covers it. Imagine the stereotype futuristic city. Y'know, with all the flying cars and holograms and stuff? Then, imagine that it is always framed by one of the most magnificent sunsets you have ever seen in you life. With all of the pinks, and oranges, the kind that fills the whole sky. That's what I saw when I first laid eyes on Sunset City. I was walking next to Kairi and Carrie, with Bartleby just a little ahead of us. I was cut up and bloody, and those damned heartless had torn my nice duster to shreds, but I was determined to stride into that city like I owned the place! Of course, my legs had other ideas. 'Hello' they said, 'We're popping out for a quick nap, that okay with you?' Well, it's not like you can say 'no' to you legs, now is it? Five steps towards the city, and my legs gave out. I mean, how pathetic is that? Almost as soon as I started to fall, I felt strong, thin arms catch me around the chest. I looked over my shoulder, expecting to see Kairi, but instead, it was Carrie who caught me.

"Umm, thanks." I said awkwardly. Not that I wasn't thankful or anything, but I barely knew this girl. I mean, she looked just as injured as I was. Worse, even.

"No problem," she said as she threw one of my arms around her shoulder. "Just helping out a friend."

Kairi came up and took my other arm, "Friend? But you barely know us. What makes you think you can trust us?" she asked. I was kind of wondering the same thing myself. They started helping me on towards a road not too far away.

"Well, I don't really know," Carrie replied, giggling a bit. "I just feel like you two are friendly, and I like friendly people! I sort of get a feeling from people I meet, and I'm liking the vibe I get from you two!" Carrie giggled a bit more as she said this. Man, did she giggle a lot or what?

We reached the highway, and the girls helped me sit down on a bench near the sidewalk. We sat there for a while, catching our breath. I turned my head slightly so I could see Carrie. This was the first time I got a chance to really look at Carrie since I first met her. Pretty understandable, since the world was kind of being swallowed by the heartless at the time. When you look at Carrie, the first thing you think is, "Do those legs ever end?" She had really long legs. It looked as though she was made up of mostly legs. That effect was likely due to the short denim shorts she was wearing. She was also really skinny. Where Kairi short and curvy, Carrie was tall and willowy. The more I looked at her, the more she reminded me of someone, I just couldn't figure out who! I was going to go mad if I didn't figure it out soon! I remembered Bartleby then, and turned to give him a once over, too. He looked just like any other Shadow heartless. Except, there was something different. I couldn't put my finger on it, but it seemed as if he had more intelligence than the other heartless had. Maybe it was in the way he moved, the way his antenna twitched, but there seemed to be some purpose in his actions, not just blind instinct. Just then, he seemed to perk up. Bartleby started jumping up and down and looking between us and a spot down the road some distance.

Kairi looked at him, a little suspiciously, "What is that thing so excited about?"

"I don't know," Carrie replied, shading her eyes with her hand as she followed Bartleby's gaze.

"I think I do," I said, pointing. "I think he sees a car."

Zooming towards us was one of those flying cars I had seen in the distance. The girls noticed it too, and Kairi immediately got up and stuck out her thumb. She looked as if she had done this before. You could tell by the way she, um, how shall I put this, _emphasized_ certain parts of her anatomy. Hey, you use what you got, right? In any case, it worked, as the car slowed and finally settled to the ground in front of us. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bartleby move. He skittered over to Carries shadow, then melted into it. Looking at her shadow, I noticed it had become a shade darker. It wasn't obvious or anything. I mean, if I hadn't seen it's color change, I wouldn't have noticed it. My attention was drawn away by a shout from the driver of the car. He had rolled down his window and looked out of it at us.

"You three look like you could use a lift." he said. He was on the older side. If I had to guess, I would say he was around fifty. He seemed to me like one of those big ole' bear types. Y'know, the kind that are built big and look all scary, but are really softies at heart and give some of the best hugs. "My name's George, but everybody calls me Gramps. Hop in!"

Kairi, Carrie and I exchanged glances, then got into the car. Kairi was about to get into the back seat with me, but I gave her a look which said, "Let me sit with her, I've got some questions to ask her." At least, that's the message I tried to convey. I definitely got her reply, which was a look that said, "No way! What if she turns out to be evil and tries to kill you! You're hurt!" but by that time, Carrie was in the car, and George was looking at Kairi and me quizzically.

"You two in a staring contest or something?" Carrie asked from inside the car.

"Yeah, but we're done now, right Kairi? Let's go." With that, I slid into the back seat with some help from Carrie. Kairi stopped me before I closed the door, and leaned in to whisper to me.

"What happened to that heartless? Run off somewhere to find some helpless people to steal hearts from?" she asked. I looked at her, surprised. I would never have expected someone like Kairi to be capable of speaking with such venom in her voice.

"He melted into Carrie's shadow. And it's name is Bartleby, remember?" I wanted to add, "what's up with the hate?" but I didn't think it wise to offend one of my only friends in this world. 'Or any other for that matter' I found myself thinking. No more earth, no more friends, right? Kairi nodded and got into the passenger seat, and we lifted off. I barely felt anything as the car lifted into the air and shot off down the highway. As soon as we were on our way, George examined Carrie and I in the rear view mirror.

"There's a first aid kit under my seat. Use it." he ordered me. Carrie pulled out the first aid kit as I muttered a quick thank you. She popped it open. I looked over her shoulder at it, expecting things like gauze and band aids, but instead there was a stainless steel object that looked eerily like a gun, along with several tubes of some blue liquid.

"Umm, George-" I began, but he cut in,

"Call me Gramps."

"Okay," I continued, "Gramps, I don't mean to sound stupid, but what is this?" he looked at me kinda funny, then said,

"The shiny, gun-like thing is a pneumatic syringe. The tubes are filled with a sterile protein solution filled with nanobots. You load the tube into the back of the gun, then put it to your arm, or wherever else you like, and pull the trigger. The nanobots do the rest. Where'd you come from that they don't have NanoMeds?"

I really didn't know how to reply to that. Thankfully, I didn't have to, as Kairi did the honors,

"A long way away. You probably wouldn't believe us if we told you."

Gramps looked at her as if saying, "Try me," but instead just asked, "So, you know my name, but what are yours?"

"I'm Charles," I said, raising my hand weakly. Damn, all that fighting and bleeding really took a toll on me, "You can call me Chuck, if you want."

"I'm Carrie."

"I'm Kairi."

"Nice to meet you," Gramps started, "Now what happened to you? How did you get all cut up?"

Kairi began to answer him as best she could, without giving away too much. While she and Gramps were talking, Carrie injected herself and me with the NanoMeds. I was surprised by how little the shot hurt. It was little more than a pinch. As Carrie was putting away the first aid kit, I turned and looked out the window, watching as the city passed us by.

I must have nodded off after a bit though, because the next thing I remember, I was being shaken awake by Carrie, and being told by Kairi that,

"We're here!"

I stretched, noticing that my cuts were gone! I was still tender, and I could feel some large bruises forming at various places around my torso, but it didn't feel like there was any major damage. I got out of the car and was able to stand on my own. I blinked owlishly and asked,

"Where is here, exactly?" I looked around and realized that we must be near the heart of the city. We were standing in front of a row of small, cozy looking town houses. They were just a little bit removed from the center of the city, situated so that they would avoid the brunt of the traffic and noise.

"This is where I live," Gramps said, "You are welcome to stay with me as long as you need, provided you don't make a ruckus and do your share of the chores."

We followed Gramps up to the front door. I noticed that Bartleby was still hiding in Carrie's shadow. Gramps opened the door and motioned us in. As soon as I stepped foot in that house, I felt safe. For some reason, it reminded me of home. It made me think of soft blankets and crackling fires. I immediately liked it. Gramps closed and locked the door behind us, and took my duster from me.

"I'm feel for ya, kid. This must have been quite the fine coat before it was ripped to shreds." He hung it up on a coat rack that stood just inside the door. Gramps then led us into a comfortably furnished living room, complete with overstuffed couch and a big, old fashioned armchair. It looked as if furniture hadn't changed much, even if the city was like something out of a sci-fi movie. As we sat down, we heard a kettle start whistling.

"That would be the kettle. Hot chocolate, anyone?" I raised my hand, and so did Kairi.

"Do you have tea bags, instead? If it's not too much trouble, I would prefer that," Carrie said. Somehow, I wouldn't have pegged her for a tea drinker. I also hadn't figured out yet who she reminded me of. Damn, I was going to go nuts if it didn't come to me soon.

"Sure, I'll bring 'em right out. Carrie, right?" Gramps replied.

Carrie pumped her fist into the air, "Yeppers! That's me! Thanks a ton, Gramps!"

"No problem," he called over his shoulder as he walked out of the room into what I could only guess was the kitchen.

As soon as we could hear Gramps clattering about in the kitchen, Kairi turned to Carrie.

"So, what's your story? I don't mean to seem rude, but we don't really know anything about you." Kairi said, almost apologetically. Carrie, on the other hand, looked as if she had been waiting for someone to ask her that question ever since she met us.

"Weeellll, my Gran, that's my grandmother, used to live with me and the folks. She was so cool. See, she used to be this really famous witch, but she retired. When I got bored, she would teach me magic and stuff! She also taught me archery. Though I can't imagine why?" as she said this, she paused and put her finger on her chin as if thinking. Carrie stayed like that for a bit, then suddenly jumped up, scaring the pants off of me, and continuing,

"AAAnyway, I wake up and there are all the black things around my bed. I'm freaking out, right, and so I just start blastin' away with all sorts of spells," here, she started to really get into the story, and acted out her bits enthusiastically.

"Of course, I ran out of magic power pretty quick. As soon as I did, I jumped out of my window and took off running. I ran to the school, 'cause I thought I'd be safe in there, but obviously I was wrong. I tried to fight them off with my bare hands," at this, she mimed punching a bunch of heartless, "but they overwhelmed me. Then, out of the blue, Bartleby jumps in front of me and starts fightin' off the others. And that's where you found me," she finished, a little anticlimactically. It was still bugging me, the way she acted. She bounced around, as if filled with energy. Who, who did she remind me of? Suddenly, I thought of it. Carrie reminded me of Yuffie! Come to think of it, they kinda dressed similar, too. The only difference was how Yuffie, in the games, kept saying how she was, "The Great Ninja Yuffie!" and the best ninja in the world.

"So, you said you learned archery?" Kairi asked, "How good are you?"

"I'm the best there is. They used to call me the Great Archer Carrie!" she said proudly. Well, I stand corrected. Exactly like Yuffie. I turned to Kairi and whispered in her ear.

"Hey, does Carrie remind you of anyone? A famous female ninja perhaps?"

Kairi clapped her hands over her mouth to stifle her giggles. "Yeah, she does! She is just like Yuffie!"

"Hey!" Carrie pouted, "What's so funny?"

We were saved from answering as Gramps returned with the hot chocolate and tea. He handed out mugs, and offered a bowl of marshmallows to Kairi and me. I took a few and popped them in my mug. I held the mug under my nose and inhaled deeply.

"Mmmm. Smells good," I pronounced. I took a sip, "Tastes good too. Thanks Gramps."

"No trouble, no trouble at all. It's a family recipe. You add just a dash of cayenne pepper to it, gives it a bit of a kick," Gramps replied, sipping his own hot chocolate contentedly. "Oh, before I forget. We need to hash out sleeping arrangements. I have two spare rooms, and there are three of you. So, two of you could share a room, and the third gets one to himself," he put a particular emphasis on 'him'. Adults. They always assume the worst about teenagers. "Or, one of you can sleep on the couch, and the other two get beds. I'll let you work it out amongst yourselves." He said. After that, we finished our drinks in companionable silence. It wasn't so much that there was nothing to talk about. It was more that talking could be done later. Right now, all we wanted to do was enjoy our respective drinks and relax. When we finished, we followed Gramps to the kitchen, where he showed us how to work the dishwasher. It was all high tech, after all. Once we had cleaned up after ourselves, he gave us a tour of the house. He showed us how to use the odd vacuum tube lift thingy that took us upstairs, he showed us where we could get clean sheets, towels, and stuff like that, and showed us where the showers and bathrooms were. After the tour, he said goodnight and went to bed. As soon as the door to his room was closed, Bartleby popped out of Carrie's shadow. Kairi and I were so startled, we almost yelped in surprise. Carrie just scooped him up into her arms, then promptly, and with much gravity said,

"Dibs."

"What?" Kairi asked.

"I call dibs on the bedroom." Carrie replied.

"Well then," I said, "I guess I'll take the couch. It's the gentlemanly thing to do. And that couch was pretty comfy, anyway." I yawned. Man, I was tired. "So, what's on the agenda for tomorrow? I need a new coat, for starters."

"Well," Kairi began, "We need to get you properly equipped for battle. That sword you're using, it doesn't fit your style, so you'll need a new one. Carrie, if you're going to be traveling with us, you'll need to be able to defend yourself, so you'll need a weapon too. Then, once we're all ready," she looked at Carrie and I with an evil glint in her eye, "You two start your training."

Carrie and I looked at each other, looked at Kairi, looked at each other again, then promptly ran into the two bedrooms and closed and locked the doors. Kairi was left blinking, alone in the hallway, as Carrie had taken Bartleby with her. I know I said I was going to give Kairi the bed, but after seeing that glint in her eye, I had a strong hunch that I would need the sleep more than she would. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

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Well, Chuck's in for it tomorrow, isn't he? I feel bad for poor Bartleby, cause I keep forgetting he's there. I promise, he will have a bigger role in the next chapter. I was intending to get to the gearing up and the training in this chapter, but it didn't work out. It's 11:19 right now, so maybe I'll get a snack and try to get the fifth chapter done too. We'll see. Also, I'm kinda thinking that doing character cameo's would be kinda fun, so if there are any video game characters you would like to nominate, or if you have an OC that you think would be cool to have pop up, just PM me or put it in your review. Anywhooo, on to the reviews.

**Reviewer's Corner**

**Star Tours Traveler** - Thanks a lot. I would love to say that I came up with that idea on my own, but that wouldn't be right. I actually got the idea from one of Ayame Alphana 's stories, called Twilight Academy: Auria Teslow. The main character is a heartless. It's very good, but hasn't been updated in almost a year. Also, you can see why the first three chapters had to come out so quickly. The first two are mostly set up. The third is where stuff begins to happen.

**Vera-chan** – Thanks! Actually, like I explained to STT above, I'm not regular. I'm not even irregular. I'm just new. And, as you could probably tell, the first two chapters don't have much to hook people with besides the concept. The first three chapters could probably be combined. They do kinda go together. If you have any ideas for Sunset City, let me know. I'm kinda at a loss as to what to do there.

**XxxspiralookamixXx** – Hi! This is mostly a shout out to you, but thanks for even reading my story! More readers = bigger ego = more writing!

**Rayna Lissesul** - Thanks. I actually got the idea for Bartleby from another author, who I will credit at the beginning of the next chapter. His name, I got from a comic book series called Bone. In it, there are these rat creatures that are the bad guys, but the good guys find this rat creature cub, take it in, and name it Bartleby. I thought it was cute, so I used the name. Also, loving Days of our Afterlife. If you have any ideas, or any cameos you would like to see, I'll take requests. Maybe I'll take a poll for who should have a cameo in the upcoming chapters? That would be fun.

Goodnight Everybody. This is Catharsis 25 telling you not to look a gift horse in the mouth, because you never know when it could breathe fire in your face. See you next time!


	5. Chapter 5: Gearing Up

Finding My Adventure

C25: Well, I have to say, this chapter was the hardest to write so far. Thanks to Star Tours Traveler, Rayna Lissesul, and xXxspiralookamixXx for their help in designing Carrie's costume. I wouldn't have been able to finish this chapter today without them.

Disclaimer: My Japanese comes from an online translator. Don't kill me if I got it entirely wrong. Also, I don't own KH or Square Enix. The end.

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Chapter 5: Gearing Up

It must have been around 5 in the morning when I heard the door to my room creak open. I stayed still, just in case. Slow, quiet footsteps made their way over to my bedside. There was a sinister giggle, then someone yelled,

"Thunder!"

_Krzshzzap!_

"YEOW!" I screamed, and jumped out of bed. Kairi and Carrie were rolling around on the floor, trying to keep their sides from exploding from laughter. Well, that's one way to start the morning. "That was so not cool. You guys couldn't have just thrown a pillow at my head something?" I stalked off to go get a shower and to wake up. I looked at the wall clock on my way out of the room, and noticed it was only 5 in the morning. I let out a heavy sigh. It was going to be one of those days.

As soon as I stepped out of the shower, I could smell something terrific cooking downstairs. I got dressed and made my way down. Gramps was up too, it seemed, and was cooking up a big breakfast. Carrie and Kairi were already sitting at the table, and I noticed that Bartleby wasn't hiding from Gramps anymore.

"So, Bartleby's out of hiding now?" I asked Carrie as I sat down at the table. Before she could respond, I was set upon by Gramps.

"Not so fast, Charles. The girls helped me prep the food, so you get to help cook it. No complaints." I got back up from the table, and went over to the sink to wash my hands.

"I wasn't going to complain. I actually used to help my dad cook sometimes." I got quiet then. I still was coming to terms with it.

"Just make sure you wash your hands first."

"Already did." As I helped Gramps finish cooking breakfast, I endeavored to find out why Bartleby was out in the open now. I guessed that it might be because they explained what happened to Gramps. On the pretext of setting out plates, I went over to the girls and asked,

"Exactly how much did you guys tell Gramps, about what happened, I mean?" Carrie just shrugged.

"Everything. He seems trustworthy enough, don't you think?" I looked at her questioningly.

"And he believed it? Did he freak out when he saw Bartleby? Does he even know what a heartless is?"

Kairi handled that question. "Yeah. It took a bit of convincing. I still find it hard to believe myself that there is such thing as a friendly heartless." She looked over at Bartleby, who was poking around the oven curiously. He turned and gave her a, "Who, me?" kind of look. He kinda reminded me of a dog.

"Well," I replied, "As Hamlet put it, 'There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,than are dreamt of in your philosophy'" I quoted. From the look Kairi was giving me, I guessed she had never read any Shakespeare.

"Never mind, I'll explain later," I told her, as I went back to help Gramps finish with breakfast.

When we finally sat down to eat, I was amazed at the spread. There was bacon and eggs. I saw a platter of fresh buttermilk pancakes, as well as french toast and waffles. I was surprised how much food there was. I saw Carrie look around, her mouth hanging open slightly.

"Wow, Gramps. When you cook, you really cook!" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Carrie replaced them with a helping of everything. Soon, we were all tucking in to our meals. It was wonderful. I couldn't help but think that, if I stayed with Gramps much longer, I'd be as fat as a pig before long. As we sat around the table digesting, Gramps inquired as to how we were planning to spend our day.

"I know how kids your age hate it when old folks like me pry into your business, but it'd set me at ease to know where to find you if I need to." He said.

Kairi once again spoke for the group, "Well, first we're going to get some new gear. Carrie and Chuck aren't exactly outfitted for the kind of traveling we'll likely be doing. Then, we'll have to find someplace to get some training in. Once again, I don't want Chuck and Carrie going out into the world unprepared."

It was starting to get on my nerves how Kairi kept talking like I was a child who didn't know anything. I had to remind myself that, compared to what Kairi had seen and done, I was. Well, that wouldn't be the case for long. I told myself that I would soon be just as skilled, just as experienced as Kairi. I was probably just deluding myself, but I was full and contented, and just a bit addled from the rapid series of events of the preceding day and a half. After a bit, we set about cleaning up and getting ready to go get geared up. On our way out, Gramps gave us a map of the city. It was pretty neat. All it was was a sheet of translucent material. When I touched it, however, it came to life. It was a hand held global positioning device! You could even hold it up in front of you, and it would show you the path to your destination overlaid on the street. Kairi selected a clothing and armor shop, and the map thingy immediately displayed the path we would need to take. Once we had walked a couple of blocks, I realized that any money I had with me probably wouldn't be worth anything here.

"Umm, Kairi, you wouldn't happen to have some money, would you? I don't think mine will work here, it being a different world and all." She looked over at me and I gave her an apologetic shrug.

"Actually," she said, "I asked Gramps and he told me that no matter what the currency, the shop owners will generally take it and be able to convert it, so you don't have to worry about that."

The experience of clothes shopping with Kairi was something else entirely. It was actually kind of a blur. One minute, I'm walking into a store, wearing a torn up shirt and bloody jeans. The next, I'm walking out, wearing a red shirt with a yin-yang on the front, a black zip up hoodie with silver accents, slightly baggy black cargo pants held up with two criss-crossing belts, new boots, and a brand new duster with light armor on the left arm and shoulder. I noticed Carrie had come out too. She was wearing a tight fitting, baby blue shirt with a raven logo dead center. Over that was a fitted green sleeveless leather hoodie with a black 'GA' with an arrow through it on the back, and a deep 'V' cut in the front so you could see the shirt underneath. Around her head was a long, black headband with a shuriken on the front and the ends trailing out behind her. On her right arm was a leather and metal gauntlet that ran all the way up to her elbow. It was extra padded inside the forearm, presumably to protect her arm from the bow string when she released it. Carrie also had on tight, black denim shorts with a big belt through them. For shoes she wore converse high top style black tabi. For those who don't know, tabi are kinda like ninja socks, with an indentation between the first two toes so they could wear sandals with them. To sum up. She looked good.

"Wow, look at you! Carrie, you look awesome!" I said. She looked me up and down, then promptly high-fived me.

"You're not so bad yourself. You look like a regular badass."

"Thanks. I'm surprised how comfortable it all is. Even the armor is extremely light. It doesn't even squeak or clank when I move. I wonder how they do that?" I replied.

"I don't know, but you're right. These clothes are nice."

"They should be," Kairi said, following us out of the store, "I helped you pick them out. But that's not all. Take a look at Bartleby." Kairi stepped aside, and let us see Bartleby. He had small, fingerless metal gloves on. He also had a minuscule chest plate and back plate with the heartless insignia on them. To tell the truth, he looked pretty fierce.

"Nice. Not so cute anymore, huh?"

As an answer, Bartleby banged his fists together, making a loud _CLANG_. I took that as his way of saying, 'damn straight'.

"Okay," Kairi said, stepping forward, "Next objective: Weapons shop. Lets go!" With that, she lead us to the closest weapons shop. I noticed, on our way there, that people took notice of us, and gave us more room than normal. We were so totally badass. When we walked into the weapon shop, however, that went away immediately. Everyone in there was at least as badass as us, if not more so. Kairi strode confidently up to the front counter, and addressed the burly man working there,

"My friends need weapons, and I hear you're the one to go to. Chuck, over there, needs a sword, and Carrie, next to him, needs a bow, quiver, and arrows." The man looked at her for a second, then started chuckling, which turned into a loud belly laugh.

"Haha! Girly, run home and play with your dolls. There's no place for you here. Same goes for your two kiddie friends. These are weapons, not toys." He laughed again, this time some of his customers joined in. I looked at Kairi warily. She looked as if she was about to jump over the counter and snap this guy's neck. I started gathering energy for a fire spell, should things get ugly. Both Carrie and Kairi noticed, and Kairi gave me the smallest of head shakes, before turning back to the man behind the counter.

"I'll give you one more chance," she said in a sweet, coquettish voice that entirely belied the cold anger in her eyes, "Would you please, kind sir, help my friends find suitable weapons? I would be very thankful, and I wouldn't have to beat you senseless. Fights are havoc on my nails." Kairi was scaring me, and I wasn't even the target of those flashing indigo eyes. The man began to laugh again. He had time for just a single "Ha," and then it was over. Kairi had pinned him by his neck against the back wall of the shop with Oathkeeper. She stuck her face just an inch away from his and snarled,

"Now listen to me you ignorant ass. That was strike two. One more strike," she pressed a little harder for emphasis, "and you're out. Now, we would like to buy some weapons, would you care to sell them to us?" He nodded. Wise move in my opinion. She let him down from the wall and backed off, glaring at the other patrons who had laughed as well. The man scrambled up and lead us into a back room.

"I neglected to introduce myself before. My name is Gareth, the owner of this shop." He said. "Let's start with you," He said, looking at me. "Which hand is your dominant hand?"

"My right," I replied.

"And what kind of sword did you use before now?" He asked as he looked through what seemed to be a categorized inventory of swords.

"I last used a longsword, but I've used a katana and a double sided short sword as well."

He walked over to me and started measuring my height, arm length, finger length, and all sorts of other things. Then, he walked over to a panel in the wall and pulled out a longsword, and handed it to me.

"Take a couple swings, please." He said, in the manner of a tailor asking about the fit. I obligingly made a few slices with it. I immediately noticed it was a little too heavy for me. I returned it, telling him so.

"Hmm, try this then," Gareth said, handing me yet another sword, of a slightly different style. And on this went. Finally, he pulled out a beautiful katana. It's scabbard was black lacquered wood with gold and silver accents. The tsuba was magnificently carved, and the hilt was wrapped with black and gold linen. He offered it to me hilt first, and I drew it. It came free of the scabbard easily, letting out a high, clear ring. The blade was bright and clear, and was inscribed near the tsuba with the craftsman's name in what looked like Japanese. The hilt felt warm in my hand, and it somehow felt right.

"I'll take it." I said. I knew this was the sword for me. I was walking out of there with it no matter what.

"Are you sure," Gareth asked.

"Absolutely." Gareth nodded, handed me the scabbard, and I sheathed the sword and slid the scabbard into my belts. It rested easily at my hip, as though it belonged there. Gareth then moved to Carrie, and began having her try out various types of bows. I didn't really pay much attention, being distracted by my new sword. Eventually, Carrie settled on a high tech looking bow. Instead of a string, it used some sort of energy beam. It had a scope with a x50 zoom, and the arrows were made of a special alloy that was especially good at story magical energy. It must have had a draw weight of at least 100 lbs. Carrie was also fitted with a tough leather quiver, which she strapped to her belt so it hung at an angle behind her so that she could draw the arrows from her hip with her left hand. Gareth did some calculations, then announced,

"That will cost you a really large amount of money. Would you like to pay with cash or charge?"

Kairi grudgingly handed over a large amount of money, then lead us out of the shop. On the way back, there was a funny feeling at the back of my mind. It was like a voice, whispering in my head. I stopped and concentrated, ignoring Kairi and Carrie's inquiries about my mental health. Finally, I managed to understand what the voice was trying to say.

"Katta-omoi."

Kairi and Carrie looked at me as if I had grown a third eye. They looked at each other, then back at me.

"Excuse me?" they said in unison. I almost laughed. It was like they had rehearsed it!

"I said Katta-omoi. I think it's the name of my sword." I slid the scabbard out of my belts and held it up, looking at it thoughtfully. More words flowed into my head.

"I think it means 'heart-cutter'. I think the sword is saying it's name is heart-cutter." Needless to say, the girls didn't take this as a good sign of my sanity. Frankly, neither did I. Oh well. Never had much use for sanity anyway! I slid the scabbard back through my belts and lead the way back to Gramps' house. The girls followed, looking concerned. Bartleby just paced cheerily beside me, evidently happy with the day's events so far. When we got back to the house, Gramps almost didn't recognize us.

"Woah, you three almost scared me to death! Successful shopping, I gather?"

Carrie bounced up and down, "I got my very own bow! With arrows!" Her headband's tails flopped up and down, and she almost lost all of the arrows out of her quiver. I swear, if we ever figured out how to harness her energy, we could use Carrie to power a city block.

"So, Gramps, do you know of anywhere we can train?" I asked, now eager to get some practice in with Katta-omoi.

"Hmm, well, I do have a sim room in my basement. Would that work?"

"I think that will do just fine," Kairi replied. We followed Gramps into his basement, where he showed us how to work the simulator, and we started training. The first thing Kairi had me do was practice channeling magic through Katta-omoi. It was much easier to do than it was with the sword of omens. I kept accidentally launching fireballs before I got a proper aim. After a while, Kairi asked if I would show her how I imbued my sword with fire back when we were escaping my world. I explained how it was just like casting fire, except you don't push the energy _out_ of the sword, but _into_ it. Meanwhile, Carrie was doing target practice with her new bow. She could consistently hit the target dead center from 30 yards away. It was pretty impressive. What was cooler was when she would charge the arrow with different spells. My favorite was when she pumped the arrow with a Blizzard spell. As soon as the arrow hit the target, the target froze solid then promptly shattered.

"Nice one, Carrie!"

"Right back at ya! Hey, see if you can get a bullseye with a Fire spell!"

I was actually able to do it. It felt so good, wielding Katta-omoi. It cut the air with ease. After practicing some more with it, I felt pretty confident in my abilities. The new sword must have gotten to my head, as I foolishly called out to Kairi,

"Hey, lets spar. You versus me. Lets see how good I am." Kairi got a devious look in her eye, almost predatory.

"Okay Chuckie-boy, it's your funeral."

What had I gotten myself into?

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Okay, once again, forgive my failure at Japanese. I just thought it sounded good, and the online translator said that katta- means cutter and omoi means heart/feelings, so if it's wrong, take it out on them.

******Reviewer's Corner**

******Star Tours Traveler**** – **Thanks. Just thanks. You, and Spiral, and Rayna, all of you have been a huge help.

******xXxspiralookamixXx**** – **Thanks. Also, thanks for offering to draw Carrie. PM me when your done. I'd love to put a link to it on my profile. And whenever you do finish your OC's just let me know. I can't promise that they can all get a cameo, but I'll see what I can do.

******Rayna Lissesul**** – **Glad you like it so far. Thanks again for you help with the whole Carrie thing. Couldn't have done it without you guys. I'll try to get Sephiroth into it. Somehow.

Thanks to everybody who has read this story. Just looking at the story traffic page on the site makes my heart swell. Have a good one.


	6. Chapter 6: The Fight

Finding My Own Adventure

C25: Sorry for the long time between updates

Carrie: Yeah, what took you so long?

Chuck: Probably goofing off and procrastinating. Lazy jerk.

C25: Hey hey hey! Not cool. I created you guys!

Chuck: What's your point?

Carrie: It's not like you can write us out of the story any time soon.

C25: Why does nobody ever listen to me!?

Carrie: Oh, yeah, I gotta warn you. There's a bit of angst and sob fest near the end. Just FYI. And C25 doesn't own Kingdom Hearts. Or me!

C25: Wait a sec, I do own you!

Carrie: Also, check out the pick Spiral did of me! It's awesome! C25 has a link on his profile to it.

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Chapter 6: The Fight

What was I thinking? How could I possibly have thought it was a good idea to challenge Kairi to a duel? I was going to get slaughtered! I braced myself as we faced off. My hands grew sweaty on the hilt of Katta-omoi. Kairi held Oathkeeper loosely down at her right side, moving with a smooth, relaxed gait. I was starting to get a little jittery.

"Relax," Kairi said, "It's just a friendly little contest. No blood, no broken bones. Just some good, wholesome rough-housing."

That eased my nerves a little. I relaxed my grip slightly and shifted into a more laid back stance. That was when she struck. One second she was standing still, the next she was halfway to me, Oathkeeper pulled back for a cut to my midsection. Time seemed jumpy and scratchy, like an old movie. I breathed, and thought to myself, 'Hey, have fun with it!' I reversed my grip on Katta-omoi and held it with both hands so it pointed towards the ground and behind me. Then, I did something extremely stupid.

"FIRE!"

The blast catapulted me upward, duster flapping as I sailed right over Kairi's head, eliciting cheers from Carrie over on the sidelines. I landed in a roll, getting up with my back towards Kairi. Adrenaline was burning through my system, and I was ready to party. I turned around and grinned cheekily at her. She grinned back.

"So that's how it is. Alright then, let's dance!"

With that, she launched herself at me again, this time firing FIRE spells at me as she came. I ducked and weaved my way around them, doing my best not to get fried. I ran around to Kairi's left and started returning fire. Kairi ran straight at me, flipping over the first few fireballs, and deflecting the rest.

"The ball's in your court!" she yelled as my own shots flew back at me.

I stopped firing and stepped into a batter's stance. As soon as the first shot was in range, I whaled it into the far wall of the sim room. The next one smacked me in the face. I fell over backwards, head reeling. When I got up, both Carrie and Kairi were laughing their heads off. I held up Katta-omoi to see myself in the blade. My face was covered in soot like in a cartoon. I turned around and shot Kairi a death glare, stopping the laughter in her throat. Then in my best Buggs Bunny voice, I cried out,

"Of course you know, THIS MEANS WAR!"

I ran straight at Kairi, sword held high. She ran forward to meet me. I brought Katta-omoi singing down towards Kairi's head, only to be deflected by Oathkeeper. Kairi swiftly countered with a slash at my ribs. I stepped back and smacked the back of Oathkeeper with Katta-omoi as it went by, adding to it's momentum and sending Kairi off balance for a second. I stepped in with a thrust, Kairi stepping to one side and parrying it, then following it up by spinning and slashing at my head. I just managed to get Katta-omoi around in time to stop Oathkeeper. Kairi and I pushed against each other, both striving for the upper hand. She spun to the side, kicking me in the butt as I stumbled past.

"Hey! That's not very nice!"

Kairi just responded by sticking out her tongue at me. We ran at each other again. This time, Kairi flipped over my head, spinning in midair, to come down behind me. I ducked and spun, my leg flying out sweeping for Kairi's feet. She flipped backwards, avoiding the sweep. I stood up and dashed at her, ducking and rolling to the side as she retaliated, so I wound up behind her. I held Katta-omoi to her neck and said,

"Say uncle."

Kairi's response was swift and decisive, and also quite cruel.

"Uncle this!" she yelled, bringing her leg up between mine. What an evil, evil woman.

As I fell, I saw Carrie and Bartleby cringe in sympathy.

I managed to squeak out a pained, "Ow," but that was about all. Damn, Kairi had a strong kick! Carrie, Kairi, and Bartleby all rushed to my side to help. Kairi kept apologizing.

"I'm so sorry, Chuck. I guess I got carried away. Are you okay? I'm so sorry," and so on.

_Cough_ _Cough _"I'm fine Kairi. Ugh, at least, I will be." The girls helped me get up and over to a bench on one side of the sim room.

"I'm fine guys, _cough-cough_, really. I'll just rest here for a bit."

I sat on the bench, recovering my strength. The girls and Bartleby returned to training. Kairi was practicing her sword technique, and Carrie was shooting arrows for Bartleby to catch. Sitting there, watching them practice, I got to thinking. How could I possibly be in this situation? It was so weird. I mean, I was just kicked in the jewels by Kairi! That's not something that happens every day! Thankfully. So how? How did Kairi get here? _Not only that_, I thought, looking at Bartleby, _but didn't they defeat Xemnas and Maleficent last time around? Shouldn't the worlds be safe from the heartless now? And if it isn't either of them, then who?_ I didn't know, but I think it was time we tried to find out.

"Hey Kairi, Carrie, Bartleby, come here!"

"Yeah? You need something?" Carrie asked, sounding a little concerned.

"No, no. I was just thinking. Kairi, didn't Sora and Riku beat Xemnas? And isn't Maleficent trapped in The World That Never Was?" I asked. Kairi gave me a thoughtful look. Carrie looked totally confused.

"Who? Who's Riku? And what's a 'Xemnas'?" Carrie inquired. I had totally forgotten that Carrie didn't know about Sora and the rest. Ugh, this was going to take a while.

"Kairi," I said, "Would you do the honors? You were there, so you know it better than I do anyway."

"Alright. So, Carrie, what do you know about other worlds?"

"Not a lot, to be honest." Carrie replied.

"Well, I grew up on a world called Destiny Islands..." It was interesting, hearing what happened from someone who was there for most of it. Sure, the bulk of it was second hand, as she heard it from Sora and was now telling it to us, but there was a depth to it that the games lacked. Small things, like how long it took between worlds, and how often Sora, Donald, and Goofy would have to find someplace to sleep while visiting a world. It was amazing how much the games left out.

It took a while, but finally it was all retold. Carrie sat there, staring at Kairi.

"Wow. I mean, wow. And all that happened in two years?! And you're a princess! I'm going to have to start calling you 'your highness'."

"No, I'd rather you didn't," Kairi said, "I'm not any more special than you are."

"Alright, sheesh." Carrie turned to me. "So, what prompted this impromptu story time? Hehe, prompted impromptu."

"Well, I was just thinking," I said, "that if Xehanort and Maleficent are out of the picture, then why are there enough heartless around to swallow a world? And not just that, but Kairi says she basically got snatched off her gummi ship. What did that, huh? We don't know. I think we need to start looking around and finding out."

Kairi stood up. "Well, what are we waiting for? If there are heartless around, I should probably get the keyhole sealed, and then we should find a gummi ship." Bartleby looked despondent at this.

"Sorry Bartleby, but I don't really like traveling by portal either," I said, patting him on the head. It was an odd feeling, touching a heartless. Have you ever felt the underside of a stingray? How it's all slick and smooth? Well, patting Bartleby's head felt kind of like that, only it was somehow less substantial. It was quite strange, but as I touched him, it also felt as if he was drawing something from me. I shook it off. My mind was probably just playing tricks on me. I HAD recently been dealt quite a serious blow. I pulled my hand off Bartleby's head, and his eyes locked on mine, like how a dog does to keep you rubbing it's belly. All of a sudden, I felt very, very tired. I was ready for bed.

"YAAAWN! Listen guys, I'm bushed. I think I'll hit the hay early tonight." I yawned again as I began to make my way upstairs and to bed.

Carrie's POV

I watched him as he left, still walking a little funny. Poor guy. Oh, well. Like he said, he'll get over it. I looked over at Kairi and noticed that she was watching him too. Watching him, not me. I snuck up behind her, real quiet. Stifling a giggle, I pounced on her, screaming,

"Boo!"

"Eep!" Kairi squeaked as I glomped her. "Carrie, get off."

I could see the vein starting to go on her forehead.

"Okey-dokey!" I said as I stood up, pulling Kairi up with me.

She brushed herself off, then stood there, as if considering her next words carefully.

"What do you think of Chuck?"

"Huh? Why would you ask that? Ohhh, I know," I cooed. I started skipping around Kairi and singing, "Kairi and Chuck, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-grrk!" Kairi cut me off by grabbing my hood. My legs went out from under me and I landed right smack on my but. Well, that wasn't very nice.

"What was that for?"

"I don't like him, not like that. He's just a friend. Besides, weren't you listening before when I told you my story? I've got Sora." As Kairi said his name, she seemed to deflate a little.

"But he's not here. Is that it? I can't imagine what it must be like, to be constantly ripped from the one you love." Kairi shuffled her feet. "You do love him, right?"

She looked up at me with a distressed look on her face. "I think so. I mean, I do, but there never really was anyone else."

"What about Riku? He was there. From your description, he sounded kinda cute," I said with a wink.

"No, he's too much like a brother to me, that could never work out. So it was just me and Sora. He's nice enough, but I don't even know if he really loves me back. And now, I might never see him again."

"Don't talk like that!" I yelled at her, stomping my foot. There was no need to be so darn pessimistic!

"It's a big universe, Carrie, and who knows where we are and how far Sora is from here. There's no way for him to track us down, and now there might be some big bad on it's way to destroy the worlds. I don't see much hope for seeing him again."

She stared down at her shoes. Only when a tear hit the floor did I notice she was crying. I hadn't known her long, but it seemed to me like she wasn't one who cried all that often. She seemed like one of those tough girls. I walked over to her and put my arm around her shoulders, trying to comfort her the best I could.

"Shhh, it's okay. I'm sure Sora will find a way. You two will meet again. You shared a paopu fruit, after all, right? So your destinies are one forever, right? It'll be okay." I spoke to her in as soothing a voice as I could. After a while the sobbing subsided.

"Thanks Carrie. I'm okay now," she said. I one of the ends of my headband to dry her eyes.

"No more crying now, okay? Can't save the world with a frown on your face, can you? Now let's see a smile!" I gave her my biggest, cheesiest smile. So did Bartleby. I think. With teeth like that, it's kind of hard to tell. Kairi attempted a smile, but it looked a little pained.

"So what about you, Carrie? Anyone special waiting out there for you?" Kairi asked.

I blushed. I didn't really know how to respond to that question. My past was a little, complicated. So I lied.

"Yeppers! My big, strong man-friend is lost out there too, just waiting for me to find him!" I smiled weakly and scratched my head when Kairi just looked at me.

"If you don't want to tell me, that's okay." Kairi looked a little offended. Oops. She started walking towards the stairs. I ran to catch up with her.

"Kairi, wait. I'm sorry, it's just complicated. I -" just then, there was a large crash from above, followed by a scream. Kairi and I looked at each other.

"Girl talk can wait. We better get up there and see what's going on." Kairi said.

We had almost reached the stairs when Chuck came flying down them, landing on his back right in front of us. He groaned and rolled over. His head snapped up to look at us. There was a strange light in his eyes, and it was scaring me. He said one word as he stood up. Just one word as he drew his sword, blade engulfed in black flames. He looked straight at me, and I swear, his eyes were ablaze too, as he spoke just one word.

"**_Run."_**

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C25: Oooooh. That's creepy. Nice. Hope the POV switch didn't throw you guys too much. Also, sorry for the huge sob fest near the end. Kinda had to happen. I think. I'm throwing this together as I go, so I don't really have many longterm plans.

**Reviewer's Corner**

**Rayna Lissesul** – Thanks for letting me know about the bold issue. I hate that too. Poor Chuck. I'm afraid I wasn't too kind to him in this chapter. I'm nowhere near as cruel as you are though. I guess that's something to aspire to.

**Star Tours Traveler** – Woah, hold on there buddy. Carrie's never even met you before. (does an impersonation of Mouse from The Matrix) But if you want a more personal introduction, I can hook you up. (chuckles) Seriously though, I'm glad I'm writing a character that is that compelling. Thanks. Oh, and I've caught up on Nobody High. I like it so far.

**XxxspiralookamixXx** – Thanks, BTW, for the Carrie pic. It looks great. And I think Kairi will scare you just a little less this chapter than she did the last. She still kicks ass, but she showed a little bit(okay, a lot) of vulnerability.

**Chilltown** – Really? In what way is Carrie not likable? No, really, I want to know. If you don't like her, I'm doing something wrong. I'm glad you like Bartleby. He's still kinda a minor character, but that might change soon. And thanks for the updating kudos.

**Vera-Chan** – There is no such thing as a literature nerd. Only a literature geek. And I'm a self proclaimed all-around geek, so you're in good company. Now Ryuu, there's no need to do that. I'm quite random myself sometimes. You should probably put some water in there if you're going to leave Vera-chan in there for a while.

C25: That's all for now. The next chapter, well, I have no idea where I was going with that last bit here, but I like it. I'll try to come up with something clever. I'm going on vacation from this Saturday 'till after Christmas. Don't worry. Unlike a lot of authors, this probably won't delay my writing. In fact, it might mean I'll get a lot of it done. No promises, though.

See ya next time! This is Catharsis25, telling you never to wash your ears with hydrochloric acid. Bye-bye!


	7. Chapter 7:Drums of War

Finding My Adventure

C25: Well well well. I left you with quite the cliffhanger last time, didn't I?

Carrie: Yeah, you big meanie! Not cool!

Chuck: I can't believe you had Kairi kick me in the jewels! WTF?!

Kairi: Heehee. I thought that was pretty funny.

Chuck: Why you-

C25: Hey! Keep it civil. Man, see what I have to deal with? Anyway, lots of big stuff happening in this chapter. Speaking of which, I have to give a major shout out to Star Tours Traveler for letting me use his character. Just let me say, you will know him when you meet him. So, everybody, on the count of 3, say, "Thank you STT!" ready? 1...2...3

Carrie, Kairi, Chuck simultaneously: "Thank you STT!!!"

C25: I don't own anything except Chuck, Carrie, and Bartleby. Alright, now on to the story!

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Chapter 7: Drums of War and Millenium Falcons

Chuck's POV

_Babababap, babababap, babababap..._

I woke up in a dark place.

_Babababap, babababap..._

I looked around myself, and realized that there was a light or a window a little bit away from me.

_Babababap, babababap..._

I walked over to it. There were two, circular windows. I looked out. Through a haze of fire and heat haze, I saw Kairi and Carrie, backing away from the windows. This confused me, as the last thing I remembered was going up the stairs.

_Babababap, babababap..._

Those drums, those drums wouldn't stop! I clutched my head, screaming out in pain. A second later, a similar scream was heard from outside the windows. I heard Kairi trying to say something. I could just make it out,

"Chuck, stop! It's me, Kairi!"

_Babababap, babababap..._

It clicked then. Those windows weren't windows. This wasn't a room. It was my mind, and those were my eyes I was looking out of. My body started moving without my telling it to, and I screamed my helplessness to the blackness. I was trapped, and there was nothing I could do about it.

_Babababap, babababap..._

And those drums were really getting on my nerves, too!

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Carrie's POV

I was getting really freaked out here. Chuck was stalking towards us, with a flaming sword and flaming eyes, like some sort of avenging angel. I slowly started to reach for my bow. Before I could reach it, I heard footsteps on the stairs, and Chuck stopped moving. Kairi and I looked at each other. She had no idea what was going on either. I looked at Bartleby, just in case he had something to add to the situation. He just shrugged. No help there either. The person reached the bottom of the stairs then, and I couldn't help but stare. He was OUR age! He turned and looked at Kairi and I, his eyes seeming to linger longer on her, then spoke,

"Hello. Can you hear them? The drums, _ the drums!_" He turned to Chuck. "Chuck can hear them, can't you Chuck?" He put his hand on Chuck's shoulder. Chuck turned just turned to look at him and screamed.

"_**AAARRRGGG!!!**_"

"That's nice."

The man was entirely in control. He had bright crimson red hair, spiked backward everywhere except for the bangs, which hung down across his forehead. He was dressed similarly to Roxas. He had a black and white checkered wristband on his left wrist. He had armored shoes, black, white, and khaki cargo pants, a black hoodie with armor on the shoulders, and a bunch of rings on his right hand(the clothes Ven is wearing in the Birth By Sleep screenshot where he's standing on the beach). At his hip was a silver chain of linked crowns. As Kairi got a good look at him, she gasped. I followed her eyes to where she was looking and noticed a silver, crown shaped pendant hanging around his neck. Kairi started sobbing.

"Th-that's Sora's necklace. Y-you killed him you _BASTARD!_" She started to lunge at him, and Chuck moved to step in front of the man. I had to hold Kairi back to keep her from getting herself killed.

"Woah, woah, woah! Why would I kill Sora? That would cause a paradox." He said. Kairi's head snapped up.

"What do you mean a paradox? If you didn't kill him, where'd you get that pendant!?" she screeched.

Man, her scream could rival the Black Canary's(for those you who don't know who she is, she is a super heroine that has a super powerful scream). The man began to walk towards us. With each step, there was a jingle from the pendant and a clank from the chain at his hip. He came face to face with me, before saying softly,

"All in good time, my dear. You, however," he said, looking at me, "Are not necessary."

He whirled around and stalked back to Chuck. As he drew closer, he said to him, "Kill her."

Chuck turned to me and began to stalk towards me, pain clear in his face. It was almost as if he was trying to stop himself. He was obviously not the one in control. Before Chuck took more than five steps, Bartleby shot out of nowhere and knocked Chuck to the ground. Bartleby grabbed Chuck's face in both dark hands and locked eyes with him. Chuck began to scream. A high, horrible scream. There was a shifting, almost a ripple, that traveled from Chuck up though Bartleby's arms, and into his body. Chuck's eyes stopped burning, then his sword went out and fell from his hand. Bartleby released Chuck and stepped away. It all happened so fast, no one had had any time to react. The stranger whipped around, looking at Bartleby furiously.

"What was that?! WHAT DID YOU DO!?" He shouted. But before he could even move to kill Bartleby, Bartleby began to change.

Bartleby collapsed and lay on the ground, convulsing every few seconds. Then, his body, along with the armor he now wore, shimmered and seemed to become fluid. They began to stretch and shift, expanding in some places and contracting in others. His antennae grew. They stretched out until they were almost as long as his body. His legs and arms stretched, and his claws became more pronounced. His head lost some of it's circular shape, his jaw becoming slightly more angular and defined. Bartleby's chest grew, stretching his armor. The breastplate shifted and became more complex, sections separating and linking back together in moveable plates. The lower part melted and flowed down his legs, solidifying into sharp, clawed boots and greaves with wicked looking spikes on them. The flesh above the greaves bulged out, forming pouches and pockets, turning into a dark cloth. The small metal gloves that he wore flowed up his arms up to the elbow, forming spiked gauntlets and bracers. Finally, he stopped twitching and stood up. He wasn't bent or crouched, but stood tall, arms loosely at his sides. He turned his head to look at Kairi and I.

"_**Hello.**_"

Kairi and I stepped back, frightened of the intimidating figure standing before us. He coughed and rubbed his jaw.

"_Cough, cough. _Hello? **Hello**. Hello. Ahem. Sorry about that, I'm new to speaking. Do not be frightened, I am still the same Bartleby that helped you off of Chuck's world before." The weirdest thing was that he didn't open his mouth when he spoke. It gave me the heebie jeebies.

The strange man looked back and forth between Bartleby and Kairi and I.

"WTF!?"

NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

Chuck's POV

I woke up with a ringing headache. Sitting up slowly I rubbed my head and moaned.

"Ugggh. My head."

I looked around, then immediately wished I hadn't. There was the strange man standing right next to me. He, however, was focused on something else. I followed his gaze and spotted an armored figure, looming over Kairi and Carrie. My instincts kicked in and I grabbed Katta-omoi and leapt to my feet. The stranger spun around, stepping in front of me.

"Uh-uh. Where do you think you're going?"

My sudden movement had gotten the attention of the strange heartless, as well as Kairi and Carrie.

"Who are you? What's going on?" I looked over at Kairi and Carrie and that, thing. "What is that thing?"

The heartless turned it's head to me.

"My name is Bartleby. I have gone through a transformation using the energy I absorbed from you. I felt it necessary to render you unconcious when you began to attack Carrie."

I was dumbfounded. It talked. Excuse me, HE talked, because it was most definitely male. Bartleby, holy crap. I couldn't believe it. I rounded on the stranger, who seemed as confused as I was.

"And you? Who are you?"

Tearing his eyes away from Bartleby, he replied,

"My name is Ventus." He shook his head, then continued, turning to me, "And I've come to kill you and Carrie." As soon as he said this, there was a flash of light.

The man who called himself Ventus was standing there holding Ultima Weapon. What the hell was going on?!

"Woah, let's talk about this...one sec, did you say your name was Ventus? As in Ven?" I said.

"Yes. What of it? You got a problem with that?" he said, threateningly.

"Yes, actually," I said, ignoring Kairi and Carrie's frantic hand signs to not piss this guy off. "You're lying. You're name can't be Ven. You don't look a thing like him."

He began laughing. It wasn't what you would expect from a guy who said he wanted to kill me. Not maniacal at all.

"Hahah. You must mean my grandfather. No, I'm named after my great-grandfather Ventus. I'm Ventus the second." He stopped laughing then. "And I'm going to kill you now."

At that, he rushed me. I frantically brought Katta-omoi around, barely deflecting the blow. I could tell this would be tough, just that first blow nearly numbed my arm. He kept on me, driving me back toward the others. I heard Carrie ask if they should help me.

"No," Kairi replied, "This is something Chuck has to do for himself."

"NO IT'S NOT!" I shouted over my shoulder.

"Oh, alright."

Kairi and Bartleby rushed to flank Ven, hemming him in. Somehow, he managed to hold his own against all three of us. Carrie wasn't able to help much because we kept getting in our way. Bartleby was faster than he had been. He was zooming all over the place, slashing left and right. Ventus managed to repel every attack we threw at him. I was beginning to get tired. I backed off to catch my breath, and the others followed suit.

"How can you have that? How can you have a keyblade? THAT keyblade? Sora's keyblade." Kairi asked between breaths.

"I would have thought you would have figured it out by now. I guess you could say," he said with a wink and a smirk, "it runs in the family."

With that cryptic comment, a portal formed behind him and he leapt backwards into it, dissappearing from sight. The last thing we heard was his voice, echoing from the void,

"The drums of war are sounding. Can you hear them? It would be wise for you to choose a side..."

And he was gone. He certainly left us with a lot to think about. I sighed and turned to face the others. Bartleby walked over to me and put his hand on my shoulder. This time, there wasn't that strange pulling, sucking feeling like there was before. It was weird, his being as tall as me.

"They grow up so fast," I said. I heard Bartleby chuckling. It was strange to hear such a sound coming from a heartless.

"We must leave this place," he said.

Carrie started at this. "What!? But we just got here! And that Ventus guy is gone, why are we leaving?"

"He's right," I said, straightening. "If he was able to find us this quickly, he might come again. No one around us is safe. We need to keep moving, make it harder for him to find us."

"Well, if you need to get off world, there's only one way to do it." I turned around to see Gramps at the bottom of the stairs. "Gummi ship. I happen to know one of the best mechanics in the 'verse."

"How long have you been there?" Carrie asked.

"Long enough. Come on, I'll bring you to him."

On our way out, Kairi stopped me and said, "You and I are going to have a talk real soon about all of this."

I just nodded.

We followed him up the stairs and out of the house. The whole way we were silent. Each had their own thoughts, and none wanted to share.

The place Gramps led us to was a beat up, run down gummi garage. It looked like it hadn't been in business for at least an eon. Carrie was quick to point this out.

"So, the best gummi mechanic in the 'verse works here? In this dump?" She stuck out her tongue at it.

"I concur. It would seem to follow that if he was the best mechanic, he would be able to afford to keep the garage in repair," Bartleby added. It was still odd hearing him speak.

"It can't hurt to give him a shot," I said. "If we don't like the ships he's got, we leave."

We walked into the shop, and my jaw immediately dropped. If the outside looked like it belong to the worst gummi ship mechanic, the inside was the exact opposite. Every surface gleamed. There was not a spec of grime anywhere. Not only that, but it looked state-of-the-art. There were holographic projections of ship designs, laser cutters, and all sorts of high-tech looking gizmos. At the far end, hunched over something and muttering to himself, was the one, the only,

"Cid Highwind, you old scoundrel! How ya doin'!" Gramps boomed.

Cid turned around, putting one hand on his hip, the other thumbing his nose in that signature gesture of his.

"How ya doin' yerself! Whatcha want, I'm busy! Either buy somethin' or get out."

Geez. Kinda grouchy, huh?

"Sir, we are looking to purchase a vehicle for travel to other worlds, and we were told that you were the best mechanic in the universe. Would you help us to select a gummi ship?" Bartleby asked. It was kind of odd how he spoke like a sophisticated british scholar, him being a heartless and all.

Cid didn't even blink at a talknig heartless. Instead, he just scratched his chin, thinking. "Well, maybe I've got a ship for you. It's not a gummi ship, but it's good enough." He looked at us thoughtfully. "It comes with a pilot though." He said it like it was a bad thing.

"How is that not a good thing?" Carrie asked.

"Weeell, you might not like the pilot. His name is Han Solo. He's a bit of a ruffian, if you get my drift."

"Let's see the ship first, then we'll see if it's even worth meeting this Solo guy, alright?" I told him. I wanted to get going as soon as possible. The sooner we were moving, the better I would feel.

Cid led us to the back of the garage, where there was a door to a large hangar. In the hanger was a beat up, slapped together looking ship. The oddest thing about it was the way the cockpit was off to one side, instead of in the middle. The ship itself was large and circular, with two pincer-like protrusions sticking off the front.

"It's called the Millenium Falcon," Cid told us.

"And it's the fastest ship in the galaxy." We turned to see a man enter behind us. He had on a leather jacket and pants, with a belt that had an extra loop on the side his blaster's holster was on. Next to him was an extremely large creature completely covered in long, shaggy brown fur with a bandalier across one shoulder, and a large crossbow-like gun slung over his back.

Upon seeing the creature, Carrie immediately squee'd and cried, "FUZZY!!!" then promptly glomped the hapless man walked his way over to Kairi, bowing to kiss her hand, and introduced himself,

"Hello. My name is Han Solo, captain of the Millenium Falcon. I understand you are in need of some transport?"

Kairi blushed furiously. "I'm Kairi, and yes, we do need transport." she glanced over at the large furry creature being assaulted by Carrie. "What's with the walking carpet?"

Han made urgent hushing motions with his hands, "Don't let him hear you say that. That's my friend Chewbaca, one of the last surviving wookies."

"Why, what happens if he hears me?"

"Let me put it this way," Han said wryly, "Most people won't pull your arm out of it's socket if you insult them. Wookies do."

Chewie roared just then as he managed to extricate himself from Carrie's grasp, "RAAARRGGG, WOOMM WOOM," almost as if to emphasize Han's point. I walke over to Han and held out my hand, which he took firmly and shook.

"My name's Charles, but everybody seems to call me Chuck. I assume you are the pilot Cid was referring to?"

"Yep. Me and Chewie will be your pilot and co-pilot for the flight." Han replied.

Cid walked over and put his hand on Han's shoulder.

"I'll leave the negotiations to you. Just remember to stick my ten percent in that strongbox over there this time, alright?" He waved to Gramps as he left, and Gramps turned to us.

"It looks like you four have this under control. I hope you guys have a safe trip," he said, before turning to me and whispering, "And I hope you find what you're looking for." With that, he left the shop.

I had no idea what he was talking about. Kinda par for the course today, though. I turned to Han Solo. We should probably get the negotiations over with so we could get out of here.

"We need fast transport to Radiant Garden. Can you manage that?"

"Sure, but I'm going to have to drop you off, I've got some deals I need to make on Tatooine." He replied.

"That's okay. How much are we gonna need to pay you? We don't exactly have a lot of money, but if it's necessary, I'm willing to help around the ship to work off any debt." The girls were quick to assure they would too.

Han rubbed the back of his head in frustration. "Why is it that I always get passengers that can't pay?" he mumbled to himself. "Why do kids like you need to get off planet so quick? What kind of trouble could you possibly be in?"

Kairi, Bartleby, Carrie and I looked at each other. Bartleby stepped forward.

"We are being pursued by a powerful man that wishes to kill two of us, and the outcome of this matter could decide the fate of the entire universe. The sooner we leave, the safer we'll be. That is the kind of trouble us "kids" can get into."

Han's mouth dropped.

"O-okay. Um, we'll talk price on the ship. Everybody in."

We all boarded the Millenium Falcon. Inside, it looked just like I always imagined a space ship should. There were wires and blinking lights, and it looked very high tech.

"Sit down everybody, and buckle up. It might get a little bumpy." Han said, dropping into the pilot's seat with Chewie as co-pilot.

All of us grabbed seats and buckled in. Soon, we were blasting off. We quickly left the atmosphere and were flying through the stars. It was amazing. I couldn't believe how incredible it was. I WAS IN SPACE!!! I could get used to this! Han hit a few buttons, then spun his chair around and slapped the release on his buckle.

"Well, were on our way. We should be there in a few hours. Feel free to make yourself confortable." He motioned to me to follow him as he left the cockpit. "Come here, we have some payment to talk about."

I followed him to a common room elsewhere in the ship. He sat down and motioned for me to sit too.

"Well, I don't know how much you're good for, but I won't go less than 10,000 credits." He said smugly.

"10,000 CREDITS!" If I had been drinking something, I would have done a spit-take. "That's ridiculous!"

"That's my price. I'm in high demand. I could always drop you on the closest moon and leave you to fend for yourselves. Unless you're willing to make it worth my while?"

I thought for a bit. I had no idea how we were going to get that much money. "Would you give me a minute to consult with my, uh, colleagues?"

"Sure."

I walked back to the cockpit to find that Chewie had left, giving Kairi, Carrie, Bartleby and I a modicum of privacy.

"So," Kairi asked, "What's the damage?"

"He wants 10,000 credits. It's ridiculous, I know, but I think we'll have to pay it."

Kairi looked horrified, Carrie looked worried, but Bartleby looked relaxed. He reached into a pants pocket(it still confuses me how he managed to make pockets out of his skin. Well, it is just condensed darkness and magic, so I guess it's not that weird) and pulled out a small pouch. He threw it over to me and I caught it. It jingled as it hit my hand.

"What's this?"

He looked at me as if questioning my sanity. "It's 10,000 credits. What else would it be?"

"How did you get 10,000 credits?"

"I'll explain it to you when you get back, but don't you have someone to pay?" He said, managing to make an expression similar to a raised eyebrow, without actally having eyebrows.

"Oh. Right. In that case I'll be right back."

I jogged back to where Han was waiting.

"Here you go, Solo," I said, handing him the munny, "10,000 credits."

He looked shocked that we were able to pay.

"Th-thanks. Hey, if you ever need a lift, just give me a call and Chewie and I will be righ there."

"Thanks. I'll be sure to do that."

I headed back to the cockpit. On the way, I noticed there was a nice lounge area. I stuck my head into the cockpit.

"Hey, let's chill in the lounge, there's a comfy looking couch in there."

We all headed to the lounge. Once we were settled down, Kairi gave me a look.

"We need to talk."

Yes we did. All this stuff with people wanting to kill me, transforming heartless, and strangers with keyblades was starting to get complicated.

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C25: Sorry about ending it there. I'm going to try to get another chapter up before Christmas, but don't count on it. I'm having more trouble than I thought I was going to, writing around my family. Who knew they could be so distracting?

**Reviewer's Corner**

**Rayna Lissesul** – See what I did? That should answer your question about the Chuck touching Bartleby thing. And ask yourself Rayna. Would anyone call what you did to Kazuko in Days of our Afterlife kind?

**XxxspiralookamixXx** - Yeah. Every other year we go down to Louisiana for X-mas to see my mom's side of the family. It's pretty cool, only there is never any snow, which is a bummer. We're going to be driving too, I think. We live in Maryland, near DC, so driving to Louisiana is going to take a long time, around 20 hours.

I'm glad you wonder about what's happening to Chuck. All I can say is, blame the cameos.

**Star Tours Traveler** - No, Gramps is not going to be a major character. He was just there to provide them a place to stay while on that world. Hopefully, I'll come up with something for the next world that doesn't involve a character that has to be garbage collected.(That's coding speak. Ask the internet). It will all be revealed in the end(as in, by the time the story is done. Don't worry, you won't have to wait all the way to the end to get some answers). I agree. I always thought the shadows were cute too. I even have a stuffed shadow. Thanks for Venny, btw.

**Vera-Chan** – I'm glad to hear you've come out of the closet, Vera. And don't apologize for you're trig tutor. Math is cool, after all. I love it! I might be a bit of slow on updating this week, so be forgiving.

C25: So, next chapter there will probably be a decent amount of exposition about stuff. I don't really know yet. Kinda playing this footloose and fancy free. And thanks again to Star Tours Traveler for lending me his character Ventus. Also, there's a treat coming up later for all you Doctor Who fans out there.


	8. Chapter 8: New Garden, Old Faces

Finding My Adventure

C25: Hello everyone! Hope you had a happy Newtonmas, Festivas, Christmachanakwanzika, Snowflake Day, or whatever you celebrate! Just FYI, for anyone who cares, I got into Georgia Tech! Woot!

Carrie: What does this have to do with me? Why should I care?

C25: That's a good question Carrie, and one I will not answer.

Carrie: Wha-

C25: Anyway, this chapter will likely contain a certain amount of exposition, but not nearly enough to satisfy you readers.

Chuck: Yeah, what's with that Ven guy?

C25: That's right. Many of you will probably be confused about Ven and some of the hints/claims he has made about his past. Much of that confusion will likely be about timelines and such. However, that confusion is intentional, and might or might not be cleared up this chapter. I don't know. Just FYI, later on there will be a surprise for any Doctor Who fans who read this fic.

Kairi: What's Doctor Who?

C25: I'm glad you asked. It is a British television series that everyone should watch. The main character is a time traveler called The Doctor. I highly recommend the show to anybody who breathes. And Now, on with the chapter.

Carrie: Don't forget to review! And C25 doesn't own anything!

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Chapter 8: New Garden, Old Faces

Chuck's POV

"We need to talk."

I had just re-entered the Millennium Falcon's lounge area, and was currently receiving a very piercing glare from a certain red-headed Princess of Heart. I walked over to the couch and sat down next to Carrie. She gave me a small smile as I sat. Kairi was across from us, leaning against the wall, and Bartleby was sitting calmly in a small armchair. I took a deep breath before I responded to Kairi.

"Okay. I agree. First, I want to ask you something, Bartleby," I said, turning to the heartless, "Where did you get all that money? I mean, why would a heartless even _have_ money?"

"Good question. It is interesting, isn't it? When a person becomes a heartless, some of the items on their person get absorbed as they transform. Think about it. I very much doubt that, while one was turning, one would have the presence of mind, or the inclination, to rid themselves of their personal affects before they were consumed."

"Well," Kairi said thoughtfully, "That does explain why sometimes, when you, er, kill a heartless," at this, she looked sheepishly at Bartleby. He just nodded, letting her know he wasn't offended, "it sometimes drops munny or items, like Potions."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," I said. "So you were just carrying around 10,000 credits when you were turned? That just doesn't seem all that likely."

"I agree. However, I am unable to remember anything from before." Bartleby replied. He looked kinda wistful at that. I wonder if he missed his memories?

"Okay, my turn," Kairi started. "Back there, when you went all psycho killer on us, what happened? It was almost as if he had brainwashed you or something?"

"Well, I went upstairs. When I got there, he was already waiting for me. I didn't even get time to draw Katta-omoi before he grabbed my head between his hands. Then, it was like I was falling."

As I spoke, I started to zone out a bit, almost as if in a trance.

"I was falling, falling inside my own head. Then, I heard words, voices, telling me things."

Carrie looked at me concernedly, "What things? What did they say?"

I turned to look at her. I saw her as if through a fog, a long way off, "Such things. The voices, none of them were his. None of them sounded like that Ven character. They sounded so familiar, though, like as if I'd heard them before."

I noticed Carrie looking down at my lap. I wonder why she was doing that? Bartleby spoke up then.

"What's that? That pattern you're tapping with your hand?" He looked very intensely at my lap. I looked at him quizzically.

I shook my head, trying to clear away the fog. "What pattern? I'm not doing anything."

Kairi looked sternly at me, "Yes, yes you are. This is not the time for games. You were tapping your leg, like this," she began beating a tattoo on her leg.

_Babababap, babababap._

I started dazing off again. "I've heard that before. That's the sound, the drums that I heard in my head, when Ven was controlling me..." Kairi stopped, and I snapped back to the present.

"I am not sure what happened, but I believe that whatever it was it was connected to that pattern." Bartleby said.

Carrie looked at me, then at Kairi, then at Bartleby, then back to me. "So, he hypnotized him?"

"It would seem so." Bartleby replied.

"It was so weird," I said, "It was like I was trapped in a little room inside my own head, and I couldn't get out or stop my body from moving. Not only that, but there was the constant sound of those drums. It was really quite annoying."

Carrie looked thoughtful. "So, Bartleby, how did you know that knocking him out would stop him? And how did you transform? I didn't think heartless could do that."

"No, I don't think they can." He replied. "I'm not sure how I did it myself. I just was drawn to him. I was unable to stop myself. Also, I knew that he was threatening you and Kairi, so I had to incapacitate him. It was mostly instinct. However, I am fairly certain that I am the only heartless to perform such a feat. I don't think it would have worked with either of you two, either," he continued, nodding at Kairi and Carrie.

"That's another thing we'll have to investigate." Kairi said. "And on that note, do you remember what you said when you woke up, Chuck? You said that that guy's name couldn't be Ven because he didn't look a thing like him. Where did that come from?"

I shrugged. "Well, you remember how I played those Kingdom Hearts games? If, when you beat them, you have fulfilled certain tasks, then you unlock a special movie at the end of each game that is kinda like a teaser for the next game. Well, at the end of Kingdom Hearts II, you can unlock a scene of these three knights in a desert, filled with Keyblades stuck into the ground. They meet up at the middle of a four way crossroads where three keyblades are stuck into the ground," here I looked straight at Kairi, "Way to Dawn, Darkside, and Kingdom Key."

Kairi let out a little gasp. Yeah, I thought that would make an impact.

"Well," I continued, "This old guy, who the game developers revealed is Master Xehanort, confronts the knights, and his shadow turns into this other guy wearing a suit like Riku does when he works for Maleficent. The knights fight the old guy and the dark warrior, and all of them use keyblades. Over the course of the battle, all three knights lose their helmets. One is a blue haired girl, one is a brown haired man, and the third, well, he looks exactly like Roxas." I paused, waiting to see Kairi's reaction.

Carrie raised her hand before asking, "So, for clarification, Roxas is Sora's Nobody, right?"

I nodded, "Yep. And guess what his name was revealed to be?"

Kairi and Carrie said it at the same time, "Ven."

I nodded in affirmation. "And this guy says Ven is his grandfather. I don't know what I think about that, but he did suggest that Keyblades run in the family."

"So the question is," Kairi stated, "What family does it run in?"

We all looked at each other at that. I personally had no real clue. I couldn't shake the feeling, however, that I had seen that Ventus guy before.

"Well," Carrie said, "From what you said, Kairi, the only people that should have keyblades are you, Riku, Sora, and that King Mickey guy." She looked at Kairi suspiciously. "None of you have any secret evil twins or anything, do you? I mean, he did have your hair, Kairi."

Kairi started at that. Now that I thought about it, I could see the similarity in their hair. Both crimson red, both mostly straight. I conjured up a picture of him in my mind. I tried to think if any of his other features reminded me of anybody.

"The only distinguishing things I remember about him are his hair, the crown necklace that looks like Sora's, and his eyes."

Carrie looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "You remembered his eyes? Really? That's what you remember about him?"

I shrugged. "Well, they were this really clear blue, and I thought they looked really freaky with the red hair. Not just that, but they were so blue, they almost cut right through you. I mean, who has eyes that blue, huh? Nobody."

Kairi looked up slowly at me. She locked eyes with me and said, very clearly, "Not nobody."

It slowly dawned on me what she was saying. I only know of one person with eyes like that.

"You can't mean-" I began, but Kairi cut me off.

"Well, who else? Not just that, but Ventus was wearing that necklace. I don't know what it means, but those eyes looked exactly like his."

Carrie was glancing between me and Kairi. "Who? What are you two talking about?"

"Sora."

I was taken by surprise. Bartleby had been silent this whole time. Not just that, but how could he know who Sora was, or what he looked like? I voiced my confusion.

"Yeah, that's who I was thinking of, but how did you know?"

"He's the keyblade master. How do you think heartless are able to know the Keyblade Master when they see him? Because they are born with the image of the Master in their minds. When I overheard Kairi telling her story, I knew that this Sora person must be the one my kind are born to hate."

"But what does it mean?" Carrie asked, looking really confused now. "Is he like Sora's long lost twin or something? Or maybe," Carrie said, with a sinister look on her face, "He's Sora's son! The father's eyes," Carrie wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at Kairi, "and the mother's hair."

"What?! N-no way! First of all, that's impossible," Kairi began, "He's MY AGE! How could he be my son?"

Carrie was giggling now, and so was I. Man, Kairi was touchy when it came to Sora.

"Well, it's obvious, isn't it?" I said. "He's from the future! Can't you see? It's your son, and he wants to warn you about something that hasn't happened yet!"

At this point, Carrie and I were having a hard time containing our laughter. Kairi was glaring at us with her hands on her hips.

"This is serious, you two!" she said, wagging her finger at us. Carrie and I just looked at each other, then burst out laughing again.

"What? What's so funny now?"

Carrie managed to get back enough breath to respond.

"Heehee, just then, you looked so much like a mother! Hahaha!"

I turned to her, wheezing with glee.

"Can you just imagine? A bunch of mini Kairi's running around, and her yelling at them to go to their room? Hahahahaha!"

Kairi stood there glaring at us until we managed to get ourselves back under control.

"Look, if you're not going to be helpful, you can be quiet."

"Oh, relax Kairi. It'll be fine. Everything will work out in the end, you'll see. Now I'm going to explore a bit, seeing as this is my first time on a space ship." I offered my hand to Carrie, who was still chuckling. "Would you care to join me, my dear?"

She giggled a bit, catching the joke.

"Absolutely, my darling. Now you behave, kids," she said, wagging a finger at Kairi and Bartleby.

"Listen to your mother." I cautioned as Carrie and I walked out of the lounge, arm in arm.

Kairi just glared at us as we left. For our part, as soon as we left the room, we both broke down in hysterical laughter. It was so much fun to tease Kairi about her and Sora! After catching my breath, I stood up and reached down to help Carrie up as well.

"So," I asked, looking around the corridor, "Where to first?"

Carrie looked around, finger on her chin in a pose of intense consideration. I chuckled at her performance. I was really getting to like hanging out with her.

"Ummm, that way!" she said, whipping her arm out to point in a direction.

"Alrighty! Let's go!" We marched off, swinging our arms and stomping our feet, laughing like lunatics.

We wondered around, poking our noses into all sorts of places. I quickly found the gunner stations, and Carrie and I checked out the armaments. It was pretty impressive. From there, we wandered to the engine room, only to get chased out by an angry Chewie. We managed to find the galley, and were in the process of making some sandwiches when we heard Han over the intercom.

"Hey, just letting you know, we'll be landing in Radiant Garden in about twenty minutes. It might be a little bumpy, so I'd advise you make sure you're seated, cause I don't want you whining to me about how you got booboo's when we touched down, got it?"

I looked at Carrie.

"Booboo's? How old does he think we are? I mean, by now everyone calls them owie's!"

Carrie almost choked on her sandwich at that. I chuckled and sat down to eat. I was about to visit Radiant Garden, and I sure as hell didn't want to walk off the ship with an owie.

We touched down right about the same time as I finished my sandwich. Han lead us down the exit ramp, and into Radiant Garden. Carrie and I stopped dead in our tracks, mouths hanging open.

"Wow," we both said, simultaneously.

Kairi looked at us and chuckled.

"Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction the first time. Don't worry, you get used to it."

Han and Chewie had been working to get the Falcon ready to take off again. On noticing mine and Carrie's stunned state, Han walked over to us and asked incredulously,

"Wait a second, do you mean to tell me that you've never been to Radiant Garden? What kind of backwater world did you two bumpkins come from anyway?"

I managed to look away from the glorious city long enough to say,

"From the kind that was swallowed by the heartless, thank you very much."

Han looked contrite at that.

"Anyway," I continued, "I've heard of Radiant Garden before, I just didn't expect it to be so...so..."

Carrie finished for me in an awed voice, "Radiant."

Han looked as if he was holding in a laugh.

"Really? What did you expect from a city that has the word in it's name? I swear Chewie," he said, turning to follow Chewie back into the Millennium Falcon, "I'm never gonna fly people from a backwater world again."

"Raaorrgg Ra Ra!"

"Yeah, I know we're going to Tatooine, but I'm not picking up anybody there."

"Raaaarrgg"

"Whose scruffy looking?"

Their conversation faded from hearing as they got deeper into the ship.

Now before I continue my narration, let me try to describe where we were. We had landed on a medium size platform that jutted out from the side of a building. It was suspended above a thriving thoroughfare, filled with people. Unlike the games, there were more than just a few shops and a smattering of people. There were trees and potted plants and hanging gardens everywhere. The building the platform was attached to was huge. It was at least twelve stories high. It gleamed with brass and silver piping. There was a large heart emblem above one of the balconies. I realized it was the castle that used to be Maleficent's base of operations. Freaky. Lots of things like that were different. There weren't flying cars or anything, but it looked more like a full fledged city than it did in the game. In the game it looked like a village. I can't really do it justice, so just imagine the most wonderful, happy place you could ever want to live.

Carrie and I were finally coming out of our stupor, when I realized that Bartleby had hung back. He was still at the top of the exit ramp on the Millennium Falcon. He wasn't looking his usual(well, from what I've seen since his transformation) calm and collected self. He was looking around as if he expected someone to jump him.

"Bartleby, what's the matter?"

He looked at me as if I was an idiot. Ouch.

"I'm a heartless. This city has been destroyed once by them. Do you really think that the local law enforcement would let me wander the streets free? And what would they think of you, associating with me?"

I slapped myself on the head. Duh! Of course Radiant Garden folks would recognize a heartless when they saw one. But how to get him in? I certainly wasn't going to leave him here. I noticed Kairi was eying me with a calculating look on her face.

"Do you have an idea? Otherwise, could you not do that, it's kinda unnerving."

"Yeah, I've got an idea," Kairi said. "Chuck, give Bartleby your duster. He can wear it with the collar up so that people won't see his face.

"Alright," I said, handing my coat to Bartleby.

Bartleby put it on, then lifted the collar. It covered where his mouth and nose would be, kinda reminding me of Auron. I almost choked when Bartleby spoke in his proper, almost pretentious voice. The conflicting images of a battle hardened guardian and Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred were just too much for my feeble mind. Carrie was shaking her head.

"It won't work," she said. "We need to cover his antenna too."

She ran up into the Falcon, and came running back out holding a beat-up brown fedora.

"Where'd you get that?" I asked, perplexed.

"I asked Han. He said it was left over from his days as an 'Exploratory Archaeologist', whatever that means. He had this neat whip too, but I didn't think Bartleby would need it."

She handed the hat to Bartleby, and he put it on, pulling it low to hid his yellow eyes. It looked good. I could almost forget he was a heartless. Instead, he looked like a spy or a flasher or something, but at least he wasn't going to be lynched. We followed Kairi towards the door that led into the castle. About halfway a man dressed in a very official uniform strode out of the door to meet us.

"Hello, and welcome to Radiant Garden. If you could please follow me to customs, we will get you through as quickly as possible." He said all this in a slightly bored tone, and began to turn before doing a double-take.

"Miss Kairi, is that you? Welcome back m'lady!"

"Thank you, Mr. Harding. My friends and I would like to get through customs as quickly as possible, so would you be so kind as to lead the way?" Kairi replied, with an air of both formality and familiarity.

"No no, Miss Kairi. You and your friends can just go right on into the city. I doubt you would attack your own city," he said with a smile.

"Thank's Sean."

"No problem Miss Kairi."

Sean stepped aside and waved us through into what I must assume would be Radiant Garden's citadel. Kairi was chuckling and shaking her head as she led us through the halls.

"What's so funny," I asked.

"Sean, that's what. He has this weird compulsion to repeat that ritual every time I come back. Somehow, he always manages to be the one to greet me."

Carrie giggled.

"Sounds to me like he has a crush on you."

"Nah," Kairi replied with an offhand wave, "He's married and has kids and stuff."

"What was with all that 'Miss Kairi' and 'M'lady' stuff?" I asked.

"I'm the queen of Radiant Garden, remember? Parents died, and my being the long lost scion and all that, the throne was handed to me. Being a Princess of Heart, I had to have something to be princess over, right?"

Bartleby chuckled, commenting, "Quite the responsible ruler, running off and having life threatening adventures when there are affairs of state to handle."

"Yeah, how come you can do that?" Carrie added.

"Well, when I found out about my royal bloodline," Kairi explained, "I was too young to be a ruler. So, what they did was set up a committee to handle day-to-day stuff, and we also have a prime minister who makes major decisions."

Sounded kind of like the British parliamentary system to me.

"So, you don't have any real power as Queen? I mean, if the PM makes the decisions..."

"Oh, if I don't like the way things are going I can always override his decisions, but that never happens. Not just that, but he's elected and has to meet the approval of the people."

"Who's PM now?" Carrie asked.

"Harold Saxon. Great guy. Won by a landslide." Kairi replied.

That was weird. That name sounded really familiar.

"I think I've heard of him before, but I have no idea how or when or where. Weird." I said.

Carrie nodded in agreement. "Me too. It's the strangest thing, but I feel like I even voted for him."

I shook it off. Probably someone I knew was named Harold Saxon or something. Common enough sounding name.

"So, what's with the castle? How long has it been an airport?" I asked jokingly. Kairi laughed appreciatively.

"Not long. Actually, the castle is the main HQ for most of the public services in Radiant Garden. It was so big, there was no reason it shouldn't be. Plus, it's right in the middle of the city, so it's convenient too. It's also where the PM does his business. Most of the parliament lives here too, but a few still live outside the castle."

While we had been talking, Kairi had been taking us down to the ground floor of the castle. Finally, we reached a pair of large double doors. The opened, and I took my first steps onto the streets of Radiant Garden. It was amazing. Everyone was smiling, and it was a very cheery place. Every now and then, I heard a beeping, and a few people that were quite obviously armed would dash off. Carrie noticed this, too.

"What's with the beeping?" She asked.

"Well," Kairi said, "Everyone has these little buttons, and when they see a heartless, they press the button and it calls the closest people qualified to fight. The noise is beepers that people qualified to fight carry. They let them know where to go."

We had gotten into the marked district by now, and my senses were buzzing with all of the vibrant colors and raucous calls of venders selling their wares. It's understandable, then, that I didn't notice that Kairi had stopped walking until I had bumped into her. Carrie bumped into me, then, and Bartleby just walked around. Kairi sighed exasperatedly. I looked in front of her and saw that she was talking to someone. He was wearing a blue pinstripe suit and red converse high-tops. He was tall, hand medium length brown hair, and a huge grin on his face. He was holding his red tie in his hand, and telling Kairi that this proved it.

"What proves what? Who are you?" I asked him.

"Oh, hello. Good to see you again," he said. He sounded very British. I was very confused, and also quite lost. However, I didn't get a chance to ask him any more questions, as, with a wink, he strolled off and was lost in the crowd.

"Who was that, Kairi?" Carrie asked.

"No idea. Probably a harmless nutter or an eccentric. We get those from time to time. Let's go, I want to introduce you to some people that could help us figure out just what's going on."

I had a pretty good guess about who we were going to see.

"Are we going to see Aerith, Leon, Yuffie, and Merlin?" I asked Kairi.

"Yeah, how did you know?" she replied.

"Only people I know in Radiant Garden."

"Soooo, how are you going to explain how you know them all?" Carrie asked.

"I'm not. I'm going to pretend I don't. It would be kinda awkward otherwise."

Kairi 'tsk'ed at me. "Not the best plan, lying to your friends."

"Well what do you suggest, your Highness?" I replied with a little bow and flourish of my hand.

Kairi flushed.

"Look, I don't want you calling me that. I don't even let the people here call me that. I'm not any better than anyone here. We're all just people," she said, a hint of anger in her voice. "And I suggest, Chuck, that you tell them the truth. We'll do introductions, then we'll tell them what's been happening. Then, you can explain about how you know what you do."

I shrugged. I guess it sounded like a good plan to me. We left the market district and entered the residence district. The houses in the game looked like little more than shacks. These looked like proper houses and apartments. We aimed for a house tucked in a corner. It was a strange looking one, easily distinguished from it's neighbors. It had rooms jutting out at weird angles, and was painted all sorts of colors and had strange patterns painted on it. 'Must be Merlin's house' I thought. Kairi walked up to the door and knocked. It opened and we were greeted by none other than the crazy old wizard himself.

"H-hello? Oh, I say, come in, come in."

The inside of the house was as crazy as the outside. There were doors everywhere, and it seemed as if the house must be bigger on the inside than on the outside. As a strange contrast, there was also an extremely advanced looking computer in one corner, built into the wall. Leon was currently sitting at it, working on something I couldn't make out. Aerith was just getting out of a chair near a fireplace, closing the book she had been reading and coming over to say greet us. There was no sign of Yuffie.

"Well, well, well, Miss Kairi, how have you been?" Merlin asked enthusiastically.

"I've been good Merlin, but there's stuff going down and we needed some info."

Leon got up from his chair and wandered over as well.

"We? Who're your friends, Kairi?" he asked, eying Bartleby suspiciously.

"This is Chuck, Carrie, and Bartleby. Guys, meet Aerith, master of healing, Leon, sword fighter and strategist, and Merlin the wizard." I shook hands with everybody, and so did Carrie. Before anyone could get around to shaking Bartleby's hand, there was a high pitched cry and Yuffie came zooming into the room.

"KAIRI!!!!"

Kairi was bowled over backwards by Yuffie's super-glomp, knocking Carrie and I down too. Bartleby just took a step to the side and avoided the whole thing.

"Yuffie...erk...can't...breathe..." Kairi managed to croak, as Yuffie was severely impairing her ability to breathe.

"Oh. Okay!" Yuffie let go of Kairi and sat up on her chest. Looking down, she noticed that Carrie and I were pinned under her as well.

"And who are you?"

Kairi managed to push Yuffie off of her, then stood and brushed herself off. I stood then gave Carrie a hand up.

"I'm Chuck," I said, shaking Yuffie's hand.

Carrie stepped in front of me and struck a dramatic pose.

"And I'm the Great Archer Carrie!"

"Oh yeah?" Yuffie said, "Well I'm the Great Ninja Yuffie!"

Aerith looked at Leon, who looked at Kairi, who looked at me. We all nodded our heads solemnly. Yuffie and Carrie must be secretly related or something.

"So," Aerith said, waving us to sit on a large couch that I could've sworn wasn't there before, "What's going on? And why are you traveling with a heartless?" she asked, looking straight at Bartleby.

At this, Leon immediately whipped out his gunblade and brought it to bear on Bartleby, who had flipped backwards to put the couch between him and Leon, losing the fedora in the process. Yuffie had pulled out her shuriken and was also prepping to attack. Bartleby then shrugged out of my duster, letting it fall to the floor.

"Dammit Bartleby, that's new!" I said, scrambling to pick my duster off the floor.

"I apologize, Chuck. I believe, however, that right now there are more pressing issues at hand." Bartleby replied dryly.

I heard a loud clang. I turned to see that both Leon and Yuffie had dropped their weapons.

"I-it can talk." Leon said, dumbfounded.

"Yes, it can. It also has a name, by which you are welcome to refer to it, when you regain your senses." Bartleby said.

Kairi got up to stand between Leon and Bartleby.

"Look, he's on our side, okay? We can explain everything." Turning to Aerith, she added, "How did you know, by the way?"

Aerith shrugged.

"I could sense it. Not that hard, really."

Leon sat down in one of the armchairs, but had reclaimed his gunblade and held it across his lap. He looked ready to fight just in case anything untoward happened. Yuffie just shrugged and perched on the back of another chair, apparently accepting the situation.

"So, what is going on that you need to see us," Aerith asked again.

Kairi began to relay her story, starting from just before she ended up in my room. She turned to me when they began to ask about how I knew things. It was easier to explain than I thought. Apparently Yuffie was a gamer, so she had actually played the Kingdom Hearts games before. I didn't see that one coming. After that, Kairi let me continue with the story. When I got to the part about my world being swallowed and my family likely being dead, Aerith immediately jumped up from her chair and gave me a hug. To be honest, I was pretty surprised, and maybe a little taken aback. First of all, I had only just met her. Second, she was AERITH! Man, this whole thing was getting a little unreal.

"Oh, it's okay. We'll get them back." Aerith soothed.

I didn't really feel all that sad. It was probably that so much of this was so surreal. One thing I can say though, if you ever have the opportunity to get a hug from Aerith, take it. She gives great hugs. Makes you feel like everything will be okay after all.

She let me go and went to hug Carrie too. Carrie's cheery facade faded and she teared up a bit. When she sat down, though, she looked as if a weight had been lifted. Aerith returned to her seat, and I continued the story up until the point where I got taken over. After that, Carrie tried to continue it, but she spoke so fast that only Yuffie could understand her, so Kairi continued. Finally, it was finished. Leon sat back in his chair, gunblade now leaning against the chair back. He sighed, one of those, 'man, my life just go so much more complicated', sighs. He got up and walked over to Bartleby, who had returned to his previous seat on the couch. Bartleby stiffened, as if he expected Leon to attack him again. Instead, Leon offered him his hand.

"I believe I owe you an apology, Bartleby. My actions were rash. I shouldn't have assumed..."

"No need to apologize, Leon. I believe that your actions were based on many years of experience with heartless, and I would recommend that you continue to react that way to other heartless. I doubt very much there are others like me."

They shook hands, nodding to each other respectfully. The moment was broken when Yuffie let out a loud yawn. Aerith got up, clapped her hands, and said,

"Alright. It's too late now to begin working on this, and I'm sure everyone's tired, so we'll have a cup of hot cocoa, then it's bedtime." She bustled off to the kitchen to start making some hot chocolate.

Right then, those had to be some of the best words I have ever heard. I hadn't noticed how late it had gotten. It was already dark outside and the moon had already risen.

It was nice. We all sat and drank hot chocolate. Well, Leon stood, but everyone else sat. We talked about this and that, nothing important, but it was nice. Yuffie was on a rebound, energy wise, and was entertaining everyone with her wild stories. Apparently, she was on the rebound romantically as well. I missed the name of her ex. It was something like Hexion, or Zexio, or something like that. Anyway, everyone was soon done drinking, and Aerith showed Kairi, Bartleby, Carrie and I to our rooms. The house had to be bigger inside than outside, because we had to go up two sets of stairs and passed at least ten rooms on the way to ours. We all said our goodnights. Carrie and I got another Aerith hug, and her assurances that if we ever need to talk about anything, we could always go to her. I went to my room, after saying goodnight to Carrie again, and got in bed. I lay there for a while, my head spinning with the days events. I turned out the light. I realized that the weirdness of it all could be summed up in one sentence.

"I was hugged by Aerith."

Damn, my life was weird.

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C25: SIGH! Damn, that was a long chapter. The actual story bit is 5472 words long. You cannot believe how long it took me to get past my writer's block when they landed on Radiant Garden. It's surprising how much of the chapter was written post-block. Anywhoo, Spiral recently did a sketch of Chuck, so hop on over to her DeviantArt gallery to check it out. http://xxxspiralookamixxx . deviantart . com/

**Reviewer's Corner**

**Star Tours Traveler** – Yup. Evil, evil Venny. I expect you laughed really hard during the part where they were talking about who Venny is. Really hard. I had fun writing that.

**Rayna Lissesul** – Thanks, but I kinda ripped that off of Joss Whedon's Firefly, which is one of the best shows ever, BTW. Yeah, watch the episode called War Stories and you'll know where I got it. I finished your story, by the way. You're not as evil as I thought.

**XxxspiralookamixXx** – Yeah. Really bakes your noodle, doesn't it. You won't find that out for a while. Lots of surprises in store, let me tell you. Let's just say time is a VERY important factor in my story.

**Vera-Chan/Lady Lucis** – Hey, glad to know you got an account!

C25: Yeah, about the Georgia Tech thing, I got in, but I don't know if I'll go there yet. Gotta see who else accepts me, y'know? The next chapter is going to be fun. At least, I'll try to make it fun. I made this one extra long just in case it takes me a while to write chapter 9.


	9. AUthor's Note

Author's Note!

C25: Okay, I know, two author's notes so quickly, but I had to. I want to let everybody know that Midterms are coming up so I might not get much chance to write. Also, because of the screwy way that does it's stuff, most people who reviewed my first author's note won't be able to review Chapter 8. AND the traffic thing says that there were no hits on Ch 8, even though I know there were. Anyway. You can review this instead of ch 8 if you are having problems.


	10. Chapter 9: The Rumble in the Jungle

Finding My Adventure

C25: 2009. Wow. The first chapter of the new year. I can't believe how long this has gotten. I mean, it's already over 27000 words!

Carrie: How'd you have time to write that much? You must not have any life at all.

C25: Yeah. It's kinda sad.

Kairi: It's okay. We'll be your friends, right guys?

Carrie: Uhh, sure.

Chuck: What?... I guess.

Bartleby: Actually, I highly enjoy your company. Our intellectual discourses are quite stimulating.

C25: Heh heh, right. Anyway, I've heard from one of the readers that the story is going a little too slowly, so I'll try to step up the pace a little, throw in some more battles. If anyone has any tips on writing battle scenes, they would be greatly appreciated. A little note, all family relations of Sora or Kairi mentioned in my story come from Star Tours Traveler's Reunion series, as does the character Lulu(not from FFX) I know it seems as if I take a lot from STT, but it's pretty crucial to the plot for certain things to be in place. Also, check out Spiral's finished picture of Chuck by clicking the link on my profile! Now, on to the story!

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Chapter 9:The Rumble in the Jungle

Chuck's POV...I guess

_I was falling. I could feel it. Even though everything around me was blackness, I knew I was falling head first. It felt as though I was moving through water. As I fell, my duster flapped around my legs, making no sound. After what seemed like an eternity, my descent slowed, and I drifted upright, lightly touching down on something solid. I looked left and right, but everything was black. I took a step forward. Instantly, the ground erupted in confusion. What seemed like thousands of doves took to wing, revealing a stained glass platform beneath my feet, glowing with an eerie light. It was a mural of someone. _

'This seems familiar, somehow.'

_I heard a voice, echoing within my head._

_**'So much to do, so little time...'**_

_I looked around, confused._

_**'Take your time, don't be afraid. The door is still shut.'**_

_All of this seemed like something I've been through before, or something someone else had been through._

_**'Now, step forward. Can you do it?'**_

_It was harder to move my leg than it should be. Still, I was able to. Suddenly, three platforms raised from the ground. Above one was a sword, another a shield, and above the third was a staff._

_**'Power sleeps within you. If you give it form, it will give you strength...Choose well.'**_

_I stepped up to the sword. _

_**'A sword of great strength. Courage and determination, the power to destroy. Is this the form you choose?'**_

_I stepped over to the shield._

_**'A shield to protect those you love. Defense against all harm, resistant to change. Is this the form you choose?'**_

_I approached the staff._

_**'A staff of wonder and ruin. Inner strength, a tool of magic, the power to change. Is this the form you choose?'**_

_I selected the sword._

_**'Now, you must give up something in return.'**_

_I gave up the shield._

_**'Strength to weather the darkness, power to change the future...You will have to fight...'**_

_As it spoke, all around me heartless sprang up. I got into my battle stance, the sword materializing in my hands._

_**'-But don't be afraid...You wield the mightiest weapon of all...'**_

_A shadow grew across the platform. It began to gain depth. The shadow started pulling itself up from the floor. I ran. I stopped short, nearly falling off the edge._

_**'-Don't be afraid...And don't forget...'**_

_I turned and faced the creature growing before me. I realized that it had been this that had been speaking. _

_**'-And don't forget...You are the one...who will be late for breakfast...'**_

_WTF? The shadow took on the shape of Carrie's head._

_**'You're going to be late for breakfast. Lazy bum.'**_

"AAAHHH!"

I bolted upright in the bed, narrowly avoiding head butting Carrie in the process. She jumped back, startled by my sudden movement.

"Jeez, Chuck, you nearly decked me!"

"Sorry, YAWN!, Carrie. Didn't mean to."

I stretched and began to work the sleep out of my body.

"Anyway," Carrie said, "If you don't get downstairs quick, you might miss breakfast, and Aerith's making waffles!"

At this, she dashed downstairs, presumably to return to her waffles. I followed after taking a quick shower in the bathroom down the hall. Everyone else was mostly done by the time I got downstairs, and there were only a few pancakes left. Aerith was still hanging around, tidying up the kitchen, humming to herself. I said good morning, then grabbed some waffles and started in.

We had been there four days already, and were no further in finding out anything about who Ventus was, where he came from, or how the heartless were involved. Each of the members of the Radiant Garden Reconstruction Committee had made contact with others who might know something, but we have yet to hear back from anyone. Kairi attempted to contact Sora and Riku, but their gummy ship was out of range, so she just left a message letting them know she was okay, and telling them she was on Radiant Garden. So, we had nothing to do. Until we heard something from Yuffie, Merlin, Aerith, or Leon's contacts, we couldn't leave. Especially since we had no idea where we should go next. Leon suggested that we train. He had us go out with him and scour the city for heartless everyday, each taking turns to tackle the meager groups of heartless we could find. If we couldn't find any, Leon would drill us and we would spar with each other.

Of course, Yuffie, with her ninja skills and experience with marksmanship, took Carrie under her wing and worked with her on finding good sniping spots, steadying her aim, and also how to use shuriken, in case she ran out of arrows. Carrie also found out that her bow had hidden blades that could be released for close-combat. She was getting pretty good with them, from what I've heard. Yuffie also worked with Bartleby on hand-to-hand combat, but he didn't really need all that much instruction, as his fight instincts were excellent. Merlin worked with us too, helping us hone our magic abilities. Under his tutelage I managed to learn how to cast Gravity, as well as better use magic to improve my strength, speed, and stamina. Not much, but a little. I could _almost_ keep up with Kairi in a race.

I was surprised when, just yesterday, we got a communication from Sora's ship. He said they were on their way and should reach Radiant Garden in two days, meaning that by tomorrow, they should be here. I was kinda jazzed to meet him. I mean, he saved the universe. Twice!

'Until then' I thought to myself as I finished my waffles, 'I've still got training to do.'

"Thanks for the waffles, Aerith," I said as I put my plate in the dish washer.

"No problem. Have fun with training!"

I waved over my shoulder as I headed out the door. It was cool how quickly I felt accepted by them. I had only known them personally for four days, but it felt like I had gotten close to all of them. Yuffie, Leon, Merlin, Aerith, they felt like family.

I made my way towards the outskirts of town. Today, Leon was going to take us beyond the city walls into the wilderness surrounding the city. According to him, the city heartless were no longer any challenge for us. I was kinda nervous, to be honest. Going into the wilderness meant that there would be little to no help if we got into trouble. Not to mention the stronger, and more numerous, heartless that roamed the forest.

Rounding a corner, I saw Leon, Kairi, Carrie, and Bartleby waiting for me. They waved as I approached.

"Hey! What took you so long, slow-poke?" Kairi called out.

"Eh, just lazy I guess. So, Leon, what's the plan?" I asked, turning to the warrior.

"We'll probably just head out and see what turns up."

Carrie was bouncing up and down with anticipation. I noticed that, instead of slung across her back, she had found a way to fold up her bow, and had is hanging at her hip. I, too, had changed where I hung Katta-omoi. It kept getting in the way when I was running, so I had started to sling it across my back, like Carrie used to do with her bow. Huh, guess we switched styles.

"Let's go let's go! C'mon! I wanna kick some heartless ass!" Carrie shouted. "No offense Bartleby"

"None taken."

Leon turned to face the gate in behind him.

"Then let's go."

He typed a password into a keypad, and the gate swung open. We followed him through, into the wilderness. As I stepped through the gate, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was following me. I looked over my shoulder, but I didn't see anyone. I shook my head.

"Must be my imagination." I said to myself, then hurried to catch up with the others.

Carrie's POV

I watched from my perch on the tree as Chuck and Bartleby were forced back to back, surrounded by a ring of Neoshadows. They were a good team. Bartleby was very fast, and he kept Neoshadows from creeping up from behind Chuck. Chuck was a much better swordsman than he keeps saying he is, and it showed. Not one Neoshadow got past his guard. His sword flashed, his duster whirled, and heartless fell around him. I shook my head vigorously.

"C'mon, pull yourself together, there's a fight going on."

I sighed as I threw myself from the branch, into open air. I landed lightly on the limb of a neighboring tree, and looked for a target. I spotted a heartless that Bartleby must have missed, sneaking up on Chuck from behind. I knocked an arrow and chanted under my breath for a few seconds before drawing and loosing my shot. It landed right at the Neoshadow's feet, and it halted, looking at it confusedly. The arrow dissolved, and in it's place were hundreds of little spiders. They immediately swarmed the Neoshadow, wrapping it in a cocoon of webbing, then moved on to others in the area, before finally disappearing with a collective _POP_. I loved that spell. It was one of my favorites.

Soon, the heartless were taken care of, and we were recuperating from the fight. Kairi and Leon had gotten separated from us, and had to fight their way back individually, so they were the worst off, but even so only had minor cuts and bruises.

"This is odd." Leon said, looking around suspiciously.

"What's odd?" I asked, scratching my head.

"Have you seen anything bigger than a Neoshadow yet?" he asked.

We all shook our heads.

"No," Kairi replied, "In fact, that's all I've seen. And in larger numbers than usual."

Leon nodded.

"Exactly. Even in the city, there are more powerful heartless. Morning Stars and Bookmasters, so why are there only Neoshadows?"

I shrugged.

"Not like it's a bad thing, right? I mean, we totally kicked their asses and stuff, so no biggie, right?"

Leon just shook his head.

"I don't know. I don't like it."

I shrugged again. Why worry about things like this, y'know? I looked over at Chuck, and was about to ask him what he thought, but something in the way he stood stopped me. He kept looking over his shoulder, then shaking his head.

"What's up, Chuck? Something wrong?"

He shivered, then shook his head.

"What? No, nothings wrong, it's just..." he trailed off, looking worried.

Just then, there was a scream. It sounded like someone was in trouble. I looked around at everyone, then just said,

"To the rescue, right?"

Bartleby, having the keenest senses out of all of us, lead the way at a quick pace. Kairi and Leon were right behind him, but Chuck hung back a few steps, so I slowed to run next to him.

"Chuck, you okay?"

"I'm fine. Why?"

I raised my eyebrow at him.

"So, you being Captain McSpacey since we left the city is just a sign of how great you're feeling?"

"Look, it's nothing, alright," he said, shaking his head. "I just have this weird feeling, okay? It's probably nothing."

"Alright, if you say so."

He looked at me then, with the oddest expression.

"That spider thing back there. Was that you?"

I nodded.

"Yep! Why?"

He shuddered a little bit as he spoke.

"Ugh. That was so creepy! Where'd you come up with something like that?!"

I just gave him a creepy grin and asked in my cheeriest voice, "Do you really want to know?"

He shook his head immediately.

"Uhh, no. I don't think so. Somehow, I doubt it came from a land of sunshine and rainbows."

I opened my mouth to speak, but from the look on Chuck's face, and the sound of fighting, we were there.

We emerged into a clearing, and at first, I thought it was filled with jello. No, I'm serious, that's what it looked like. A mass of gray, wiggling jello. That was up until one of the bits of jello lunged at me. I whipped an arrow out of my quiver and made to stab the thing, but it squirmed out of the way and knocked me over from behind.

Chuck was there in an instant, but he was having just as difficult a time hitting it as I did. I pulled out another arrow, and chanted,

"Ira, sedo nemus, quod redimio meus hostilis !" (Latin, find a translator online)

I fired the arrow at the nearest tree, and immediately roots began to sprout from the ground at the creature's feet, binding it and tripping it up enough for Chuck to slice it in half. He reached out and gave me a hand up.

"Nobodies. Slippery bastards. Mostly Dusks and Creepers. Dusks are the ones that look kinda like people, except more flexible. Creepers are the small ones that keep shape-shifting," Chuck said.

Then he took off toward the center of the clearing. Instead of following, I ran to the tree I had shot, whispered,

"levo mihi" and stepped onto the proffered limb, which lifted me up into the tree.

I ran out onto one of the upper boughs, and was able to see what the commotion was. In the middle of the crowd of Nobodies was Ventus, holding a girl by the arm, grinning cheerily, and brandishing his keyblade. It was obviously the girl who had screamed. Chuck, Bartleby, Leon, and Kairi were attempting to fight their way towards the mad man. Bartleby was leading the way, using his speed to stun as many Nobodies as he could, so Kairi, Chuck, and Leon could take them down. They were already about a third of the way through the group, but were losing momentum. Already, I could see Chuck had taken numerous hits, and Bartleby was slowing, too.

I knocked an arrow to my bow and muttered,

"Levitas emanio amo torva-incendia, tamen pulsatus tantum quis EGO votum."

The arrowhead crackled with electricity as I let it fly. It struck the ground right in front of Bartleby, stopping an advancing Nobody in it's tracks. The Dusk was blasted with electricity, but it didn't stop there. The charge arced from it to it's neighbors, and from them to theirs. The stunned Nobodies were easily dispatched by Chuck and the others, and they swiftly broke through to Ventus. There was no way I was going to sit out here safely while Chuck faced Ventus alone. Well, not alone, but you get the idea. I pulled a special arrow from my quiver. Attached to the back was an anchor and a reel of steel cord. I plunged the anchor into the tree, then shot the arrow at Ventus' feet. Then, holding either end of my bow, I slid down the cable like a zip-line.

"WOOOOHOOOO!"

I dismounted with a flip to land right next to Chuck. I turned to face Ventus, knocking another arrow and drawing a bead on him.

_Clap, clap, clap, clap._

"_Very_ good. Very..._Bond_."

Ventus' voice was laced with an easy sarcasm that belied the danger he posed. Chuck made to charge him, but Leon held him back, stepping up to the front of the group. Leon confronted him with an easy strength, gunblade over one shoulder.

"Ventus, right?"

"That's me, but all my friends call me Venny," Ventus said, giving a mocking bow and grinning wryly.

"And who might those friends of yours be?"

Venny shook a finger at him, shaking his head.

"I don't think you would know him. Not yet. But you will soon."

He pulled the girl closer to himself, getting a firmer grip on her. Leon started forward, but stopped when Venny put Ultima to her neck.

"Sorry. She's coming with me."

Chuck glanced at Bartleby, who nodded and slowly moved towards the back of the group. Chuck made eye contact with me, and I immediately got the message: diversion. I stepped past Leon and walked right up to Venny.

"Listen up, _Venny_," I said, poking him in the chest. He looked too surprised to do anything. "It's not very nice to treat people like that. I mean, what would your mother think if she saw how you're handling that very nice looking young lady?!" I said this all very fast and in one breath. As I stopped to breath, he actually made a reply. Go figure.

"If you want to know what my mommy dearest would think, why don't you just ask her?"

"Well I'll tell you what she'd say, she'd say," I did a double-take. "Wait, what!?"

He sighed dramatically. What a drama queen.

"I can't believe you guys haven't figured it out yet. Really, you're pretty slow."

Venny hit me flat-palmed on the chest, throwing me backwards. Thankfully, Chuck caught me before I knocked anyone over.

"Thanks," I whispered.

He smiled at me.

"Don't mention it." He looked up at Ventus, then and demanded, "What are you talking about? Get to the point!"

Venny chuckled, then pointed at Kairi with his keyblade.

"Tell me, _mother_, what_ do_ you think of my behavior?"

I was shocked, to say the least. I mean, Kairi'd have to be at least twice as old as she says he is for him to be right. Right? I looked at Kairi, but she seemed as confused as I was.

"Wh-what did you say?" She managed to stammer out.

"I said, that you are my mother, Kairi. Or should I say, _mommy_."

At that precise moment, Bartleby popped out of the ground behind Ventus and slashed the arm that was holding the girl, forcing Venny to drop her. Chuck dashed forward and scooped up the girl, while I shot a volley of arrows at him. Ventus threw Bartleby off of him, sending him flying back first into a tree. My arrows, he just shrugged off like they were gnats. Kairi just stood there like a lump on a log. Chuck made it back to us, and Leon stepped in front of him, settling into his fighting stance. I looked behind us and noticed there were still at least a hundred Nobodies blocking our way back. We were pretty screwed.

Leon shouted over his shoulder, "Go, I'll hold him off. Get Bartleby and get out of here!"

I nodded, then turned to Kairi and slapped her hard across the face. That seemed to wake her up.

"Thanks," she said, shaking her head.

"No problem."

I looked over at Chuck to see that he was pretty hampered by the girl clinging to him like a life raft. For some reason, it kinda ticked me off to see her hanging on him like that. Whatever. She was probably just scared.

"Hey, girl, can you run?"

She nodded weakly. There would be time for introductions later. We grouped together, then began fighting our way through the crowd to Bartleby. We got to him in time to hear Leon's grunt of pain as he was disarmed by Venny. I have to hand it to him, that Venny's got skill with a sword. Leon was down, Bartleby was injured, and there were hundreds of Nobodies surrounding us. Things did not look good. I saw Venny looking like he was about to go in for the kill. Chuck saw it too. He nodded to me, and I grabbed the girl. He wouldn't be able to make it through all the Nobodies with dead weight like her hanging onto him, and as an added bonus, it kept her from hugging him too. Just cause I didn't know why it irked me that she was hanging all over him, didn't mean that I didn't want to do something about it.

I stopped him before he took off and said, "Try not to get yourself killed, 'kay?"

He just winked, then ran off, igniting his sword on the way.

Chuck made it about half way, and it looked like he was going to be too late. Then, all of a sudden, the Nobodies started vanishing. Just like that, they were leaving. Poof. Within half a second, most of them were gone. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw one of them bow to the girl, and her nod back. I shook my head. That couldn't be right. Must be imagining things. I looked back to Chuck, and was relieved to see that he had successfully stopped Ventus from beheading Leon. However, he was losing ground rapidly. Venny was pushing him back, and kept getting little strikes in under Chuck's guard. Chuck was parrying furiously, his sword flashing, duster flapping, but he was slowing down. Ventus cornered him against a tree. They locked swords, pushing against each other in a contest of strength. Ventus started speaking to Chuck, and I could just barely make out what he was saying.

"...you'll lose. You know it. I'm better than you. Just give up."

Chuck replied with a grunted, "Never."

"Why, Chuck? Why not join me? I'm not evil. I'm not even the bad guy. You and I could be friends."

Chuck snorted derisively.

"No, really. I honestly think we could," Ventus continued, pushing even harder against Chuck, "At least then you wouldn't have to die."

Chuck let out a noise halfway between a groan and a laugh.

"Who says I'm going to die? Gravity!"

A pocket of warped space appeared above Chuck, pulling him up and away from Venny, who stumbled against the tree. Chuck then kicked off the tree, landing behind Ventus just in time to receive a kick to the stomach that sent him sprawling. Venny chuckled.

"Nice trick. Won't save you. You see, I'm pretty pissed right now. So I'm going to do something I really didn't want to. I'm going to have to destroy this world and everyone on it. So you'd best make peace with your dear and fluffy lord."

With that, he raised his hand and formed a portal. Before going, he looked directly at me. Or at least, it seemed like he did. Maybe he was looking at the girl I was restraining from going to Chuck? In any case, he winked, then disappeared through the portal. Then, the ground started to shake, and I began to panic.

"HOLYSHITholyshitholyshit! We're going to die!"

Chuck helped Leon back to us, then collapsed on the ground.

"Carrie, I think you might be right."

A new voice broke in then, and I turned around to see a man standing in the doorway of a big blue box that had the word Police written across the top.

"Look at you all! The world's ending and you're just lying there!"

Chuck looked at him, nonplussed.

"When did you get here?"

"Just now. Well?" he said, gesturing into the box.

"Well what?" Kairi asked.

"Are you coming or what?"

"In there?"

"Yup."

"We won't fit." I said.

"You'd be surprised," he replied, turning and walking into the box.

I looked at Chuck and shrugged.

"Worth a shot if it means we don't die." I said.

He shrugged back, and we all walked into the box. Remember how I thought there wouldn't be enough room? Well, I was wrong.

The man strode quickly to the center of the huge cathedral like room we were in, where a large console stood, surrounding a tall blue tube that rose all the way to the ceiling. He spoke quickly as he worked, twisting knobs, pulling levers, and sometimes hitting things with a mallet.

"I'm the Doctor, welcome to the TARDIS, stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space, it's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside, and you had better hold on to something."

Before we could brace ourselves, the floor shook, and we were all dumped unceremoniously to the ground. The man calling himself the Doctor strode to the door and flung it open. Outside, Radiant Garden was being swallowed by the darkness.

"I'm sorry," he said, very sadly, "I couldn't save them. I really am sorry, but I only had time for one more trip, and I had to save all of you."

We watched as Radiant Garden was devoured, along with everyone on it.

Chuck's POV

It was horrible, the end of Radiant Garden. And us being the only ones who survived.

"Wait a second, you said you only had time for one MORE stop. Where else did you go?" I asked the Doctor.

"Oh, there'll be time for that in a bit, but first, introductions! You know me, I'm the Doctor! But I'm afraid I don't know you."

I was about to tell him who we were, when Kairi cut me off.

"You keep saying you're the Doctor, but what's your name? Doctor who?"

"Nope, that's it, just the Doctor. You would be...?"

"Kairi. And that's Chuck, Carrie, Bartleby, Leon, and..." she trailed off, looking at the girl questioningly.

"Lulu," she said.

"And Lulu," Kairi finished.

Lulu seemed to notice I was there again, and quickly re-attached herself to me. Needless to say, I felt a little uncomfortable. It's not like women were throwing themselves at me back home. I just went with it for now. I mean, it's not like she wasn't attractive. She had long blond hair that hung over her shoulder on one side(think Namine), and looked to be around sixteen. Lulu was also, ahem, well endowed, and wore clothes that were clearly meant to accentuate her...well endowed-ness. I tried to focus on something else.

"So, you said you made another stop..." I prompted.

"Right. If you'll just follow me, it can be pretty easy to get lost in the TARDIS."

The Doctor led us through the halls of the TARDIS, and, from what I saw, it had to be bigger than Radiant Garden's castle! It had a brass and steel kind of theme to it, and had stair cases and doorways leading off in every direction. Lulu kept close to me the whole time.

"Thank you," she said after a while.

"For what?"

"For saving me. I'm really grateful," she replied.

"I didn't really do anything. It's Bartleby and Carrie you should be thanking."

"No," she said, hugging my arm tightly, "You were the one who fought that mean old Ventus guy. You saved me."

"If you insist," I said. I was getting very uncomfortable with the direction this conversation was taking.

"I don't know how I can ever repay you."

She looked up at me, batting her eyelashes. I was feeling extremely awkward. Extremely, extremely awkward. Thankfully, a large, fat spider chose that moment to drop down right onto Lulu's head. She quickly forgot about me, and began running around swatting at her head. I noticed, however, that the spider had already scuttled off to ride on Carrie's shoulder. I made a mental note to thank her later.

The Doctor stopped us at a door off the passageway.

"Here we are," he said, opening it.

There was a loud, ear shattering squeal, and Leon disappeared from sight. I looked across the hall from the door and saw Leon sprawled against the wall with a very happy looking Yuffie sitting on top of him.

"Yuffie!" Carrie screamed, and glomped the ninja. I quickly followed suit.

"Yuffie, we thought you were dead!"

"We thought _you_ guys were!" she said back. "Aerith's here too, and so is Merlin!"

They were alive. I let out a happy sigh of relief as Aerith and Merlin joined us in the hallway. However, my relief was short lived.

"What did he mean when he said that I was his mother?" Kairi voiced aloud.

Yuffie whipped around to face her.

"Who said what now?!"

Aerith ushered us into the room she and Merlin had just come out of. It was set up like a lounge, with overstuffed armchairs and sofas scattered around the place. It looked oddly familiar. In fact...it looked just like Merlin's lounge! It even had the fireplace complete with roaring fire! This ship was so strange. How could a spaceship have a fireplace?! Anyway, everybody found seats near the fire. I, for one, threw myself down onto the couch closest to the inferno and stretched out across it. Lulu pleaded with her eyes, and I grudgingly let her join me. I noticed Carrie scowling out of the corner of my eye. What was she so ticked about? Generally it took a lot to get her to stop smiling. I gave a little mental shrug. She was probably just concerned about the people of Radiant Garden. Something like that could ruin anyone's day.

Yuffie fidgeted in her seat, barely containing her need to get the gossip.

"Come on, Kairi! Who said they were your kid? And who's she?" Yuffie asked, gesturing to Lulu as she said that last bit.

Kairi explained about everything that went down in the clearing, then said,

"What I don't get is, how could I possibly be his mother? I mean, Ventus is MY age? How would that even work!?"

The Doctor perked up at this.

"You're sure he wasn't lying? Absolutely positive?"

Kairi nodded vehemently.

"Yes. I don't know how I know, but he was definitely telling the truth." She thought for a moment. "Or, at least he _thought _he was telling the truth."

The Doctor got up and began to pace, rubbing the back of his head in consternation as he spoke.

"If he was telling the truth, then it's possible he's from the future. No, he can't be! I'm the only one with a TARDIS! So how did he do it?"

Carrie raised her hand tentatively.

"Yes?" the Doctor asked.

"Are you saying that he's from the future?"

"Eh, I guess. Technically. Sort of. Close enough. Your point?"

"So time travel is real?" Kairi asked.

"'Course it is! Why do you ask?" he replied.

"You said he couldn't be from the future 'cause he didn't have a TARDIS, so does that mean that because you _do_ have a TARDIS, you can travel in time?"

The Doctor nodded.

"Yep."

Kairi's cheeks began to redden. I could tell she was really getting pissed. I mean, on an epic scale. She jumped up and began stalking towards him.

"Do you mean to tell me that you have this huge ship that can travel in time, and you were ONLY ABLE TO SAVE US!? Why couldn't you go back in time and stop Ventus from destroying Radiant Garden!?"

The Doctor backpedaled, moving away from the enraged teen.

"I'm sorry. I truly am, but it's not that simple!" He said as she backed him up against a chair.

"Do you have ANY idea how many people DIED!?"

The Doctor looked her straight in the eyes.

"Yes," he said. "I do. I felt them. Every single one. Every life, every potential future dying, snuffed out like a candle. I couldn't not. It's the burden of the Time Lord."

Kairi seemed to deflate. She trudged back to her seat and collapsed into it. The Doctor moved back to join us, continuing,

"There are points in time that are fixed. Things that no matter how much we want to, we can't change. Not even a Time Lord. The destruction of Radiant Garden is one of those fixed points. I did what I could. I saved all of you. I wish I could have saved them all, but I couldn't. I am truly, deeply sorry. You have no idea."

"You really can travel through time?" I asked.

"Uh-huh."

"Prove it."

The Doctor walked out of the room. A short while later, the TARDIS shook, and I could hear the strange noise of it's engines. About fifteen minutes later, the Doctor walked back in, putting his tie back on. Kairi's eyes widened.

"It was you. In the market. You were the one that started waving his tie around!" Kairi exclaimed.

The Doctor nodded.

"Yep. Can't fool with time except for cheap parlor tricks."

"So, what is a Time Lord exactly? Will we get to meet any others?"

He looked at me sadly. I could see regret in his eyes. And something more. A deepness, and unfathomable age. I looked away, unable to hold his gaze.

"No. I'm the last."

He took a deep breath, then let it out.

"The last of the proud and ancient Time Lords. All of the others are dead," he said, seeming to lose himself in the past. "Perished, in the last, great Time War against the Daleks, a race bent on the obliteration of everything that isn't them. My home was lost, too. Gallifrey. It was thrown out of time. I can never go home. Never ever."

Damn. What a downer.

"Kairi, if you're Venny's mom, then who do you think the father is?" I asked in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Kairi blushed scarlet, and Carrie and Yuffie started giggling. Even Aerith chuckled a little. I looked at Carrie, and she nodded to me.

"Sora."

Kairi, if possible, blushed even darker.

"Y'know, it does explain a lot," I said musingly.

"You're right," Carrie replied. "Like why he had that necklace."

"Or why he could use a keyblade," I added.

"And what he meant by saying that he could use a keyblade because it ran in the family," replied Bartleby.

Carrie started chanting, "Kairi and Sora, sitting in a tree."

Yuffie and I joined in, "K-I-S-S-I-N-G!!!"

Leon glared at us and barked, "SHUT UP!" then sat back and massaged his temples.

Carrie and I looked at each other and laughed for a bit. Then, Carrie seemed to notice Lulu was still there, and stopped laughing almost immediately. I looked away. Carrie seemed to really not like Lulu for some reason. What was up with her? Since when did Carrie not like somebody? I made a mental not to go talk to her later when Lulu wasn't around.

During this exchange, Bartleby seemed to be in deep thought. He came out of his reverie to ask,

"Do you recall what Ventus said? The first time we met him, Ventus implied that there was a war coming, and that we should choose a side. What could he have meant? For some reason, that phrase he used, it keeps echoing in my head." Bartleby said, almost to himself.

"_The drums of war are sounding. Can you hear them? It would be wise for you to choose a side..."_

Yeah. I remembered alright. And I couldn't help but agree with Bartleby. Something about the way Ventus said it just makes me shiver. Something was going down, and I had a feeling it wasn't good.

"I know what you mean, Bartleby. I just can't figure out why it stands out so much." I said.

"We don't know enough." Kairi asserted.

"I'd agree with you there," I said, "But where to look?"

Lulu looked up at this.

"The past."

We all looked at her, a bit startled. She had been so quiet up 'till now.

"What?" I asked.

"The past," Lulu replied. "Ventus' past."

"You mean our present." Bartleby stated.

Lulu shrugged.

"Or further back. How should I know? But he seems fixated on his past, his parents, so why not look farther back?"

I was stunned. It was actually a good idea. I had no idea where she got it from, but it kinda made sense.

"What do you think?" I asked.

"Sounds good to me," Kairi said.

"I see no reason not to try," agreed Bartleby.

Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith all thought it was a good idea too. Carrie, however, remained silent.

"I guess that means we check the past," I said.

The Doctor clapped his hands at this.

"Okay, where and when? How about ten years? No, too boring. Let's go back 13 years. Annnd let's try..." he looked to Kairi, who supplied,

"Destiny Islands."

"Alright! Destiny Islands, 13 years in the past! Anybody got a problem with that?" he asked.

There were no objection.

"In that case," the Doctor said, "Allons-y!"(let's go!)

He dashed out of the room and soon we could hear a strange whooshing noise. We were off.

"Okay, anyone who has never traveled in time before, raise their hands."

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C25:Whew! That was a very difficult chapter to write. I'd like to thank Naes17 for helping me with it. I don't think I'll do review replies this time, because frankly, it's been really f-ing long since the last chapter and I don't feel like doing them. I'll definitely have them in the next chapter, whenever that comes. For now, R+R, and I'll reply individually, and will probably have two reviewer's corners in the next chapter, but for now, you just get the story.

On another note, I have a poll up on my site, and I would really value everyone's opinion on it. It is a very important issue that I would like to get resolved.


	11. Author's Note: Warning! Hiatus!

Author's Note

C25: Hello. I am very sorry. I'm sorry for the long silence. I'm sorry for the poor quality of the story. I'm sorry for what I'm about to do to all you readers out there. As of now, I am putting this story on HIATUS.

Carrie:What!?

Chuck: NO!!

Bartleby: …

C25: Settle down. There is a reason for this. Recently, school has been tough. By the time I get home, I'm too burnt out to do much of anything, and the last thing I want to do is use my brain. So, until the muse strikes me, or I get to writing an outline and doing a character sketch for all my major characters, I'm going to think about it only at my leisure, and let it develop in the back of my mind. I think it will result in a higher quality story and better experience for everyone involved.

That doesn't mean that I don't want to hear from all you readers out there in Fanfiction land. Even if I'm not writing, I'm certainly reading, and if you want to email me or pm me, I would love to hear from you. In fact, it might encourage me to get back to writing faster ;)

I guess that's it. Catch 'ya on the flip side!


	12. Chapter 10: Origins of Despair

Finding My Adventure

C25: Hey guys! I'm back! Sorry I took so long. I was doing...other stuff.

Carrie: You mean you were watching anime and playing video games.

Chuck: Don't forget D&D. He was doing that too!

C25: Okay, okay! I get it. Haha. Aren't they cute! *Grins evilly and puts both Carrie and Chuck in a headlock*

Carrie: Ow! Let us go!

C25: Anyhoo. This chapter was a long time in coming, and I'm really proud of it. Especially the first scene. I want to thank Naes17 for once again helping me get my ideas in order. What would I do without you, man? Here's to hoping you can somehow move back to Maryland!

Bartleby: C25 would also like to let Spiral know he included all of her special words. Even filibuster. Also, he would like everyone to know that he doesn't own Kingdom Hearts, Doctor Who, or Venny and Lulu. Now please, enjoy chapter 10.

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Chapter 10: Origins of Despair

Chuck

I was falling, falling through ink, through tar, through blackness. I fell for what seemed like ages. Then, my feet touched ground. Black ground, darkness made solid. I've had this dream before. It wasn't like this, though. This was different. More vivid. Almost tangible. I took a step, expecting the darkness at my feet to explode into a thousand doves, revealing a glowing stained glass platform beneath me. It didn't. I stared into the pitch black void around me. No, this was far from the dream from before. It was more real.

It was darker.

"A new dawn is rising. Dare you brave the darkness that stands before you? Do you dare gaze into the abyss?"

The voice echoed inside my head. It came from nowhere, and everywhere.

"Who are you? What do you want from me?" I asked, whirling around in search of the source.

"Can you not recall? You know my name. Search for it. Step forward, let the darkness into you, let it claim you, and you shall know truth."

I had no choice. I stepped forward.

The darkness at my feet exploded into motion. A flapping of wings, a rush of feathers. I watched as the birds left the ground, revealing, as expected, a stained glass platform. But it was wrong. In the eerie red light shining through the glass, I watched the birds. They weren't the white doves I was expecting, and they weren't leaving, either. Instead, hundreds of large, black birds began to circle me, enclosing me in a wall of moving darkness. Ravens. They were ravens, cawing and croaking as they flew. I spun around, looking for a means of escape, but there were no breaks in the wall. It was then that I noticed there was a shape in the glass. I looked down, and locked eyes with myself. I was shown there, arms limp, head sagging, eyes burning, hanging from the thorn protruding from my chest. It was horrific. Surrounding me, were familiar silhouettes, though I couldn't identify them. Except for one. In it's hand was the shape of a keyblade, THE keyblade. It must be Sora.

No sooner had I thought this than the ravens became deathly silent. All I heard was the rustle of their feathers, and the beating of my heart.

Bum-bum-bum-bum. Bum-bum-bum-bum.

No, that couldn't be my heart beat.

Bum-bum-bum-bum. Bum-bum-bum-bum.

It was the drums. And something more. There was another sound, just barely audible over the beating. I strained to hear it.

Bum-bum-bum-bum. Thump. Bum-bum-bum-bum. Thump.

Foot steps. Coming closer. I heard a flapping in my ear, then looked to see one of the ravens, the largest bird I'd ever seen, flying towards me, landing on my shoulder. It stared at me with a beady black eye. No, it wasn't black. I looked closer. Ravens don't have green eyes. Before I could muse further, something caught my eye, past the wall of ravens. A glimpse, a brief image of deep, sad blue eyes.

"Why? Why do you look to prolong suffering? I seek to ease their pain, and yet you work against me. Why? What good could possibly come of it," the man behind the eyes said.

"What are you talking about? I don't even know who you are," I replied.

The sad eyes blinked, then shook, as if the person was shaking their head. Then there was a hand around my neck, fingers closing about my throat.

"Let me ease your pain. Let me end your suffering. Let me save you," the man said, eyes still sad, without the slightest trace of anger.

I clawed at the black-gloved hand, vainly prying at the steel grip. I felt something warm dripping down my neck. My eyes traced up the arm as they began to roll back in my head, seeing dozens of small cuts begin to accumulate on the skin as the ravens flying by clawed at it. The blood began to drip.

Drip-drip-drip-drip. Drip-drip-drip-drip.

My heart beat harder in my head.

Thump-thump-thump-thump.

Just as I was beginning to lose consciousness, I could breath again. The green-eyed raven was no longer on my shoulder, and the arm was pulling back through the wall, a deep gash running from the elbow all the way to the wrist. The black and yellow glove was stained red as it vanished from my sight. I sank to the ground and lay there, gasping. The green-eyed raven landed on my chest, it's beak dripping a sticky something onto my face. It looked into my eyes once more. I began lose consciousness again. Just as I was about to fade completely, I heard the voice from before.

"You think you know. What you are, what's to come. You haven't even begun."

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Carrie

Bored. I am so damn BORED! I had been laying there on the, admittedly comfortable, bed for hours. Since we landed, the Doctor was all, "You should get some rest." And everyone else was like, "okay."

I was in a freaking time machine and I was just lying there? The fuck?

I jumped up to go find out what Chuck was up to.

To be honest, I should have expected to find Lulu hanging around his door. I mean, she hadn't really left his side since we saved her. I can sympathize, too. On a ship full of strangers, who are you more likely to want to chill with? The person who saved your life, of course.

Doesn't mean I like it.

"And what are you doing, skulking around Chuck's door?"

"Nothing!" she said, jumping as if caught doing something she wasn't supposed to.

"Really? Nothing? Nothing at all? Just chillin'?" I asked, already starting to lose it, even though she only said one word.

Lulu shuffled her feet, looking down as she spoke, "Well, I thought I heard something in there. Like, moans of pain or something. I just wanted to, you know..."

"Check on him?" I finished.

She nodded.

"I'll check on him," I said, reaching for the door, "Y'know, 'cause I've known him longer."

I pulled the door open, and stuck my head in, all stealthy-like.

'Course, Lulu had to squeeze in past me. Making TONS of noise, might I add.

"Excuse me? Rude much?" I asked, following her in.

She was standing over a thrashing, fevered looking Chuck. Poor guy, looked like he was having some crazy bad nightmare, red trimmed sheets wrapped around him like that. Lulu was already pawing at him, trying to wake him up. I stepped to the other side of the bed, swatting her hands away so I could get a good grip around his shoulders. It wasn't until I grabbed him that I saw his neck and arm clearly. Lets just say the sheets were originally solid white.

"Oh my god..." I manage to gasp. I turn to Lulu. "Go get Aerith."

She looked shocked, and starts to stammer something but I cut her off.

"NOW."

I run into the bathroom as she heads out. Grabbing as many towels as I can, I dash back to Chuck try to find where all the blood was coming from. Pulling back the sheets, I see blood caked around his left forearm, as well as a dribble from multiple cuts on his neck. I try to stop the bleeding until Aerith(accompanied by Lulu) arrives. When she does, I step back and let her work. I would only be getting in the way.

It's a while before he stops bleeding. For some reason, Aerith had had difficulty healing the wounds. We had to go get Merlin up. He managed to stop the blood flow by sewing the wounds shut using a needle made from the quill of one of the raven's feathers I use to fletch my arrows with. They say he'll still have scars, but at least he'll live. Once they were done, Merlin and Aerith made us wait outside for him to wake up.

As I stepped out, I noticed that Kairi, Yuffie, and Bartleby were waiting in the hall. Kairi's head snapped up as she noticed me.

"How's he doing," she asked.

I shrugged in response.

"Merlin says he'll be fine now. Just resting," I tell her, trying to rub the weariness out of my eyes.

"But how does he LOOK," Yuffie asked.

I hold myself to try to stop from cringing.

"To be honest, he looks like hell," I reply, dropping to the floor next to Kairi, back against the wall.

"Aerith says it looked like someone tried to strangle him in his sleep, but the Doctor says thats not possible, 'cause no one can get into the TARDIS. Not only that, but there's a big long ugly gash on his arm."

"I wonder what could have done that to him," Kairi said, shivering.

"Yes, but what is more troubling is why Merlin and Aerith's magic was ineffective," Bartleby said. First words I'd heard out of him.

"What do you mean," Kairi asked, "Carrie says he's doing better now, so obviously their magic was effective."

"No. We've been waiting for two hours. Yuffie, how long would you say Aerith normally spends on healing a person?" Bartleby said.

Yuffie thought for a moment, hand on her chin.

"Less than an hour. Definitely. She's an ace, y'know," she replied.

"Exactly," Bartleby said, nodding. "It shouldn't have taken both Aerith AND Merlin over two hours just to stabilize him."

"You're right," I said, "It took a needle made from a raven's feather to close up the wounds."

"A raven's feather, you said?"

Leon was leaning against the wall, halfway around a bend in the corridor. Standard stoic warrior macho stuff. Men. He was the one who spoke. Obviously.

"Yeah," I replied, "Why? Is that important or something."

Leon was quiet for a moment before answering.

"I don't know yet. Excuse me."

With that, he pushed off the wall and strode off. Could he have been any more cryptic? Have I mentioned how I hate that bullshit?

"What was that all about?" Yuffie asked.

Kairi shook her head.

"No idea," she said. Then her eyes seemed to lose focus, and tears begin to form.

"I haven't been this worried since..."

I walked over and put my arm around her shoulder. Kairi shrugged it off.

"Never mind, it's nothing," she said, bringing herself back under control. She shook her head and clenched her fists, and was once again the badass warrior chick I had met. It was like watching someone put on a mask. At first you can see their emotions, know what they feel, then the mask slips down and all you can see is the plastic.

"Anyway, we're all tired. We should get some rest."

Bartleby stood and put a hand on Kairi's shoulder, before looking at each of us in turn.

"No, all of you get some rest. I'll wait here. Don't worry," he said, flicking a glance at me, "I'll fetch you as soon as he wakes."

Bartleby leaned against the wall next to the door and pulled a book out of his pocket, and everyone went their separate ways. I glanced over my shoulder as I left. What could have done that to Chuck? And what was Kairi talking about just now? I shook my head. Too many questions, not enough answers. Nothing to do but wait for Chuck to wake.

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Chuck

I opened my eyes to the sight of Carrie's smiling face.

"Carrie! You have no idea how glad I am to see you. I was having this horrible nightmare..." I trailed off as her smile melted away.

"Oh Chuck, you poor thing," she said, helping me to stand up, "You think you've been dreaming."

I took a step back, confused.

"What? What are you talking about?"

Carrie shook her head sadly.

"I'm disappointed in you, Chuck," she said. "I would have thought you would have figured it out by now. How many times have you played this part of the game?"

Something clicked in my head. I looked down.

Below me was a stained glass pillar. I was in the center, with Katta - Omoi held over my shoulder. Depicted on either side of me were Bartleby and Carrie, with Kairi behind. Surrounding us were images of the others, the Doctor, Aerith, Merlin, Yuffie, Leon, Lulu... and Venny? What the hell? And Sora and Riku were absent from the picture. What was going on?

"An awakening," I muttered.

Carrie smiled and clapped her hands.

"Bingo. You hit the nail on the head."

"Wait," I said, puzzled. "If this is an awakening, you can't really be Carrie can you? And where's the ominous disembodied voice, huh?"

She shook her head as she walked to the far side of the pillar.

"Questions, questions, so many questions. It's time for answers."

As Carrie spoke, two ornately carved pedestals rose from the glass on either side of her. On the left pedestal was a heartless, and on the right, a nobody, both twitching and jerking.

"Let me guess, you want me to choose between the two, right?"

Carrie nodded.

"Yes. On the one hand, you have the Heartless," she said, pacing over to observe the creature. "Vicious and dumb. All emotion, no brain. Brave, in their own way. Strong, too. Strength enough to destroy the worlds...or to protect them."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

She ignored me and strode to the other pedestal.

"On the other, you have the Nobodies. Emotionless. Calculating. They're fast, agile, and move like water. Unlike the Heartless, they don't kill out of passion. Of course, the Nobodies have a choice. The Heartless don't have the brains to know what a choice is."

"So, what's the choice? Are you saying I'm going to become one of these?"

She shrugged, stepping forward to face me.

"Maybe. Maybe not. It all depends on you, doesn't it? Which path will you take?"

As she spoke, she backed up so that she was between the pedestals.

"Will you brave the darkness," she gestured to the Heartless, "Or will you face nothingness?" she gestured to the Nobody, "The choice is yours."

Hmmm. I guess I didn't have much of a choice. On the one hand, Nobodies weren't malicious or anything. They killed, though. And unlike the heartless, who couldn't help it, the Nobodies didn't have any urges to kill, they just did. And I would rather be something than nothing. At least darkness has a chance at redemption. Right?

I stepped closer to the pedestal on the left.

"I've made my choice."

The heartless locked eyes with me, and I could see myself in them, reflected in the yellow orbs. I stood right in front of the pedestal. Then, faster than blinking, it plunged it's hand into my chest. Instead of pulling out my heart, though, it seemed to get sucked in. I could feel it's darkness spreading throughout my body. No, not spreading, moving. The darkness swarmed outwards from my heart, crawling across my chest and down my right arm. I watched as a dark smoke gathered in my hand, spinning, stretching, condensing, becoming...

KACHINK!

I stared down at Katta-Omoi. I only barely noticed the pillars sinking back into the platform. I only took my eyes off it when I began to fall. I shut my eyes tight against the darkness. They fluttered open when I felt the cold pressure of glass against my back. I rose to my feet, inspecting this new pillar.

This one was tinted blue, and the main focus seemed to be Kairi and Sora. They were side by side, holding hands. Behind them were Roxas and Namine, in a similar pose. Surrounding them were silhouettes that I didn't recognize. Standing on the pillar, directly between Kairi and Sora, was Venny.

"Yo." (a/n: Right here would be a perfect place for a commercial break if this was a TV show)

I just stared. What the hell was he doing here!? I mean, I get Carrie being here, seeing as she's my friend, but a guy who tried to kill me?

"What do you want," I asked, hefting Katta-omoi into a defensive stance.

Venny chuckled.

"Woah there," he said, putting his hands in the air. "What ever happened to common decency? No hello? No salutations(a/n: almost forgot to include them, but I did. all three of them, spiral)? No 'hi Venny, how ya doin'?"

"I don't typically greet people who try to kill me and my friends with a polite 'how do you do'." I snarled.

"Ooh. Temper temper. Anger leads to hate and all that."

"Don't toy with me, asshole! Do you have any idea how many people you've killed? You destroyed an entire world!"

His smile faded somewhat at this.

"I know. And I wouldn't have if you hadn't made me. Do you know what you hold there in your hand? Do you have even the slightest inkling?"

"Yeah," I said, "It's the sword I'm going to kill you with!"

With that, I charged at him. I brought my sword down at him only for him to raise his hand and summon Ultima Weapon just in time to block. Venny chuckled.

"So be it."

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Carrie

Once again, I lay awake in my bed. Kinda hard to get to sleep when your best friend was recently slashed open in his sleep. And there are just too many hanging questions. Like what Kairi was talking about, for one. At least that's one I can find out about.

"Okay! Step one, get out of bed. Step two, go find Kairi and find out what the hell she was talking about!"

So I talk to myself. Who doesn't? Anyway, I got up and headed off to see what was going on with Kairi. Hopefully she wasn't asleep yet. I trudged down the corridors of the ship to where her room was supposed to be. Once I got there, I faced a dilemma. How should I approach this? Should I knock? I listened at the door. I couldn't really hear anything, so I knocked softly on the door.

"Kairi? Are you awake?" I asked softly.

I heard some muffled noises before the door cracked open and Kairi poked her, somewhat disheveled, head out.

"Hello, Carrie. What is it?" she asked.

"Could I talk to you?"

Kairi shrugged, then stepped back to let me in. Her room was much the same as mine. Similar bed style, furniture, etc. I followed her in, closing the door behind me. Kairi went and sat on the bed, propped up against the head board, so I sat at the foot.

"What is it you wanted to talk about?" she asked, once we were settled.

"Well, it's about what you said earlier."

"What I said..." she replied.

I nodded.

"The thing about how you haven't been this worried since, and then you trailed off. I was wondering what that something was."

Kairi raised her eyebrow at me.

"So you thought, 'Hey, Kairi's got a secret, lets find out!' and decided to come interrogate me?" she said.

I was startled. I didn't expect such a cold reply from Kairi. It must have showed, because she quickly softened her expression.

"I'm sorry, Carrie. It's just, I don't really feel comfortable talking about it. That, and I'm kind of tired. We did just recently fight a horde of nobodies and heartless."

"No, it's okay," I replied. "I didn't mean to pry like that. It's just, it seemed like you need to get something off your chest, or something. You know what I mean?"

She sighed, and rubbed her eyes. If I didn't know better, I would have thought they were red from crying, not fatigue.

"I guess it couldn't hurt. It's still kind of painful, and very personal, so don't tell anyone, okay?"

I nodded.

"Okay. It was a year ago. I mean, from our time. Not our time, now, but our time before now, or gaahhh!" she began.

"Yeah," I said, "Time travel screws everything up. I get what you mean, though."

"Okay. Anyway, it wasn't long after we beat the Organization XIII. After the battle, there were still some Nobodies and Heartless roaming, so Riku, Sora, and I went around doing some clean-up. We went back to Destiny Islands, to make sure things were okay there, but they weren't. It was dark, and raining. The only time I'd ever seen it rain that hard was the first time, when it got destroyed. There was so much darkness. Powerful heartless were wandering about, killing and destroying. It was horrible. Well, we were on our way to seal the key hole when we were ambushed. There were two Darksides, the big ones, as well as a Behemoth. We were overwhelmed. Riku attacked the Behemoth, and Sora took one of the Darksides. I wasn't very strong then, and when the Darkside I was facing summoned a bunch of Shadows... well, you know what its like, right?"

Yeah, I sure did. That was when I first met Kairi and Chuck. Man, that sure wasn't any kind of fun at all. I nodded.

"So, I'm covered in Shadows, and the Darkside is about to impale me. I thought I was a goner. Just as it struck, though, Sora dashed over and deflected it's attack. In doing so, he turned his back to the Darkside he was facing, giving it the opportunity it needed to take his heart."

"WHAT?!" I exclaimed. Needless to say, I was surprised.

"Shhh, not so loud, you'll wake everyone up!" Kairi told me.

"But, does that mean... how could he be...?"

"He's fine," Kairi said. "As soon as his heart was gone, Roxas took his place. Riku had just defeated the Behemoth, and was able to capture Sora's heart in a bottle before it got away, and I managed to defeat the Darkside. Roxas took care of the other Darkside. I was terrified. Scared that I would never get him back. We took his body to Yen Sid. He was able to put Sora's heart back in his body, but something must have gotten damaged. Even after Roxas reunited with Sora again, Sora wasn't able to use the Keyblade again."

"Really? Not at all?" I asked.

She shook her head.

"Not at all. Yen Sid says that maybe it was because of how he came back. Last time, his heart was in mine, so I was able to bring him back, but maybe this time his heart got damaged, being outside of a body. He can still fight, but he uses a normal sword now."

"Must have been tough," I said.

"Yeah," Kairi replied, "He took it hard. After being endowed(a/n: that's two of three, spiral) with all of that power, to lose it all? There was a period where all he would do was train alone. Any time we would approach him, he would make some excuse and leave. Riku and I kept trying though. One time, we followed him around, trying to wear him down. Got the tactic from a social studies class. A filibuster, I think it's called.(a/n: for you, spiral) Anyway, he eventually went back to his old self. I think he still has trouble, sometimes. I mean, both me and Riku can still use our keyblades, and I think that's tough on him."

"So, that's what you were talking about? Wow. That's pretty heavy." I said.

I was still kind of in shock from the news. Sora, the Keyblade Master, unable to use a keyblade? No wonder she toughened up like she did. I mean, if there's something that would make a girl go all warrior princess like Kairi did, it would be the near death of the one she loves.

"Yeah. I know I should tell everyone about it, but... I don't know. It's just that-" Kairi began. She was stopped by a knock on the door.

"Excuse me. Kairi, is Carrie in there with you? I came to let you both know."

It was Bartleby, judging from the voice.

"Let us know what," I asked.

"Chuck is awake."

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Reviewer's Corner

**xXxspiralookamixXx**-Yes. Yes you should. Doctor Who is so very awesome. David Tennant is the man.

**Star Tours Traveler**-Thanks. I'm glad you approve. Y'know, I once heard an author say, "When I get stuck, I just add a new character" and that's what I did. Lulu kinda saved the chapter. Thanks loads. I just hope I'm not overdoing it with her.

**Lady Lucis** - It's okay Ryuu, I have my sugar-proof vest on. Vera, if you want to know who Lulu is, I recommend you read the Reunion series by Star Tours Traveler. She is his character, and is quite interesting. You don't really find out about her until Reunion III, but all of the Reunion fics are good, so it's not a big deal. And in reply to what you said about Carrie, I would have to say, "My, you are quite perceptive." Someone should tell Carrie that it isn't good to bottle your feelings

Carrie: Hey! I heard that! What are you talking about!? There is nothing I'm denying!

C25:Oh dear, here we go.

Chuck:You kinda put your foot in it, didn't you?

C25: Vera, I'll have to get back to you.*ducks an arrow* It looks like things around here are getting dangerous. *yells at Carrie* Hey! That's expensive! Put that down!

**Rayna Lissesul** - Thanks. I was originally intending to have the false awakening at the beginning, then have Chuck ACTUALLY have an awakening later, but that didn't happen. And yeah, things are heating up. Very perceptive of you. As I was saying to Lady Lucis/Vera *shouts at Carrie* BEFORE I WAS SO RUDELY INTERRUPTED! Carrie needs to let her feelings out

Carrie: I'm not keeping any in!

Kairi: Here we go again*sweat drops*

C25: Anyway, I have heard of parkour, and I was kinda thinking of that when I was writing Carrie's part. That, and ninjas. Lots of ninjas.

**Naes17** - Carbunkle? Eh? Anyway, have you ever heard of the saying "Know your enemy"? Well, the best way to know your enemy is to know where they come from. Their past and stuff. Plus, I wanted to explain some time stuff. And there is a line I want the Doctor to say that involves time, so it was good set up. Didn't we talk about this already? Anyhoo, thanks for reviewing and thanks for helping me write this thing. If it wasn't for you, I probably wouldn't have even started this fic! It's thanks to you that such cool people as Carrie and Chuck exist!

Carrie:Thanks Naes17!

Chuck:Ditto!

**Yenattirb**- Well thank you. I'd like to think that I was kick-ass. I'm glad you're into it.

**Igor Lolipop** - Thank you so much. I really love your reviews. I agree that dusks are creepy, but I still think that something that slinks along the ground AND changes shape deserves the name Creeper. Haha! "Omnomed". Awesome. I like that you like how Chuck reacts to new girls. Poor Chuck. He was never popular with the ladies back at home. Yup. Jealous Carrie. BTW, I think that Quince might make a quick Cameo in chapter 11. I hope.

**Yxme24** - I'm glad you love Doctor Who, as all breathing people should. I'll keep writing, as much as I can, since I'm going to be a freshman in college this year. Keep reading, and keep reviewing!

**jessi girl18024** - Thanks for loving my story! Plz keep reading!


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